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Blog
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a program developed in the 1990s by the World Health Organization to improve breastfeeding rates worldwide. Nowadays, it’s quite common to hear of hospitals refer to themselves as “baby-friendly,”...
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Blog
When one hospital in California was found to be performing a higher-than-average number of C-sections, an insurance company stepped in and led to some big changes. They said that unless this hospital could lower their number of surgical births,...
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Blog
Lifetime has an all-new “unscripted” series, “Born in the Wild,” which documents couples’ decisions to forgo birth in a hospital and instead give birth in nature on their own terms without assistance. “In this new series, families take one step...
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Pregnancy
Hospitals and birthing centers designated “baby friendly” follow a list of guidelines based on up-to-date medical research designed to support you as you give your baby the best start in life possible. From the moment right after birth when...
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Pregnancy
You’ve just given birth to a beautiful baby. And you may be anxious to get your baby home and begin your life together. But the time you stay in the hospital after delivery is an important time for you to heal. The length of time you will be in the...
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Blog
The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative is a program that was developed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF in the late 1990s to encourage breastfeeding globally, beginning with labor and delivery. BFHI, as it is called, consists of 10 steps...
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Community
I hoped my insurance company would cover a breast pump but just found out they will not. Now I am wondering whether it would be best to rent a pump from the hospital or buy a good one? Any input would be greatly appreciated. I bought one with my...
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Community
...Bring all your newborn care questions as we discuss what you need to know during the first week of life with your newborn! We’ll discuss hospital care, returning home and the first week. Nothing is off limits!...
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Blog
If you think that all you are hearing about nowadays are the announcements of babies being born by what seems like the bucketful, rest assured you are not hallucinating. It turns out that in the United States, most births occur in the late summer...
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Pregnancy
With the coronavirus pandemic in full swing, it is only natural to want to avoid stepping foot inside a hospital. However, what about when it comes time to deliver your baby? Would it be better to skip the hospital and deliver at home? Home births...
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Pregnancy
A research team at the University of Minnesota just delivered some news about cesarean sections: not only are C-sections the most common inpatient surgical procedure in the US, they are currently used in about one-third of all deliveries. While...
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Health
If your child has to be admitted to the hospital, you may assume your own pediatrician will take care of him or her. Many people are surprised to find out this may not be the case. An increasing number of hospitals are hiring hospitalists to take...
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Pregnancy
Every expectant mom has her list of what to bring to the hospital when she has her baby. And while that list is certainly important (don’t forget the car seat!), sometimes what not to bring is just as important. 1. Anything valuable. Here’s the...
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Parenting
No parent wants to think about their child needing to be admitted into the hospital, but the reality is more than 3 million children in the US are hospitalized each year. If your child must spend time in the hospital, there are a few things you can...
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Pregnancy
Most pregnant women put together a bag to bring to the hospital well before they go into labor so that when the time comes, they can just grab and go. However, some lists include so many items that, were you to include them all, you’d need multiple...
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Parenting
According to Safe Kids Worldwide, 73 percent of car seats are either installed or used incorrectly. This amounts to millions of well-intentioned families putting their infants and children at risk for a serious car seat safety compromise without...
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Pregnancy
Having a baby can be an expensive proposition, but not all childbirths cost the same. In general, you can expect to pay more for a C-section—but not always. When comparing a vaginal delivery versus a scheduled C-section, there are a few factors...
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Blog
August 29, 2015 marks the 10-year anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina. I was a third year medical student in New Orleans when this storm struck, and even though I had not yet done my OB/GYN rotation I had a feeling that was where I was...
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Parenting
As a parent of a hospitalized child, you can’t avoid being stressed, however there are actions you can take to help make your stay less stressful and maybe even productive. Bring pen and paper to the hospital: Chances are you may see your child’s...
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Pregnancy
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Parenting
While most young children are healthy, pediatric surgical procedures are fairly common and can be anxiety-provoking for families. Even for young children, it is important they are prepared for surgery in order to minimize their anxiety. While some...
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Blog
Picture this: a woman recently shows up the hospital unaware she was pregnant and in labor—with twins! She gives birth quickly by an emergency C-section. How can a woman not know she is pregnant?! Can this be real? While this story sounds...
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Blog
As pediatric residents, we would mark off each season of the year for the diseases we encountered. The cooler fall weather and the viruses shared at the beginning of school triggered the asthmatics to begin coughing. Wintertime inevitably brought...
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Blog
“One can dream.” That’s often a quote we hear when we talk about winning the lottery or landing a job that lets us do something great like being a taster of new ice cream flavors for a living (I wish). However, what’s sad is that many American moms...
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Blog
As a busy pediatrician and mother of a very active 20-month-old toddler, I was shocked to learn that I had an incompetent cervix at 22 weeks of pregnancy. When my OB told me I had to stop working and spend the rest of my pregnancy on bed rest or...
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Blog
Starting when you were a little girl, you dreamt of the day you became a mother.Even the thought of how many children probably crossed your mind. If the thought of becoming a mother is wonderful, but the actual delivery part is terrifying,...
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Blog
On May 2, 2015, at approximately 6 a.m. local time, the Duchess of Cambridge was admitted to the Lindo Wing of Saint Mary’s Hospital after going into labor. At 8:34 a.m., the Duke and Duchess welcomed a baby girl, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana,...
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Pregnancy
When you are pregnant and deciding where you want to deliver your baby, most expectant parents think about many of the same things: How close is the hospital to my house? Does the doctor or midwife I like deliver there? Have my friends had babies...
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Pregnancy
If you know ahead of time that you are going to birth by having a C-section, you can use this time to prepare emotionally, physically, and logistically. When you come home from the hospital you will not only be mastering the art of new parenting,...
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Baby
Ankyloglossia, the medical term for tongue-tie, is a common birth defect. More common in boys than girls, it affects between 3 and 10 percent of infants, with varying degrees of severity. Tongue-tie occurs when the small piece of skin that connects...
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Pregnancy
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Health
Before nerve cells mature, they are known as “neuroblasts.” Neuroblastoma is a rare type of cancer in which these neuroblasts divide uncontrollably and form tumors. Although it is rare overall, accounting for less than 10 percent of all childhood...
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Baby
One of the most common reasons a newborn is readmitted to the hospital is thanks to high bilirubin levels. Bilirubin is released when red blood cells break down. Once broken down, bilirubin is metabolized in the liver. A newborn’s liver, however,...
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Pregnancy
While home births account for only about 0.6 percent of all births in the United States, they have gained increasing visibility in recent years, especially in the media. Women opt for home births for various reasons: they want the comfort of being...
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Blog
A 3-year-old boy was carried to the ER at my hospital late on a Friday night last fall. The parents reported he had cold symptoms and fever for the past couple of days, but that night, something was just not right. By the time my colleague got into...
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Blog
“They took her away?!?!” I didn’t even have time to set my bag down on my desk before my colleague dropped the bomb. My beautiful little patient, all smiles all the time, was being removed from her parents and younger siblings to be placed in a...
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Blog
Not too long ago, we ran an article on the dangers of water births, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified two cases of Legionnaires disease in babies delivered through a water birth. The infection was linked to...
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Blog
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if your child got the measles? As pediatricians, I know my husband and I never did. Despite receiving medical training in different parts of the world, neither one of us had actually ever even seen a...
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Blog
If you gave birth in a hospital 50 years ago, the chances that your obstetrician was a male were almost 100 percent. That has changed in recent years as more and more women have gone into the field of medicine. In fact, most recently 82 percent of...
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Pregnancy
Most pregnant women have heard of preeclampsia as a complication of pregnancy whose hallmark is high blood pressure. And most women have also been told by their obstetricians and midwives that this disease becomes more common as a woman gets closer...
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Blog
Giving birth to your baby is the huge payoff after nine months of pregnancy, which may have included heartburn, back pain, swelling, and painful contractions. Going to the hospital to delivery your baby should be a moment of joy and excitement. So...
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Health
Cancer refers to any condition that causes cell to multiply uncontrollably in the body. These conditions can occur in people of all ages and at any place in the body, including the brain. While brain tumors and cancer in general are rare in young...
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Pregnancy
Preterm labor is defined as labor that starts between 20 and 37 weeks of pregnancy. Approximately 10 percent of babies are born preterm in the United States. This can be an overwhelmingly scary time, especially if you are earlier in your pregnancy....
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Health
Hepatoblastoma, a liver cancer, is a very rare condition in children, with an estimated 0.9 per 1 million children experiencing the condition, according to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Hepatoblastoma is most commonly diagnosed in children from...
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Pregnancy
Historically, midwives in the United States emerged in the 1920s, though they have been practicing around the world for thousands of years. These types of midwives were usually women in rural communities who had been taught to assist with birthing,...
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Pregnancy
Unfortunately there is no one thing that always happens to all pregnant women when they go into labor. In fact, what a woman experiences as her body prepares to give birth can vary greatly between different women and even different pregnancies. But...
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Parenting
There’s no doubt the adults in your house are excited about the arrival of a newborn, but many new parents are surprised to learn their older children don’t necessarily share their sense of excitement. Depending on your existing children’s...
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Pregnancy
After waiting patiently for your little one to arrive, many moms wonder what will happen after their baby is born: “Where will they sleep in the hospital—in the room with me or in the nursery?” and “How will I get my rest? And does it even matter?”...
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Health
If your child needs surgery, you may have spent days or weeks preparing your child (and yourself!) for the big day. Or perhaps you may not have that luxury—some children will need emergency surgery, leaving no time to think of anything else other...
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Health
You will be approached shortly after your baby’s birth, if not before, to either give or refuse permission to have her vaccinated against hepatitis B. Both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
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Pregnancy
With the various types of obstetric providers that can care for you during your labor and delivery, some women choose to be seen by a midwife. Different categories of midwives exist, but the bottom line is that they all care for low-risk women....
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Parenting
About every 8 minutes, a child under age 6 is given the wrong dose of medication, according to an October 2014 study in the journal Pediatrics. The medication mistakes typically involved younger children taking pain or cough medication. The...
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Baby
Hearing loss is the most common birth defect in the United States. Approximately 3-4 out of every 1,000 babies are born either deaf or hard of hearing. Screening newborns for hearing loss is an important step in ensuring a baby’s normal...
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Blog
Just like we’ve given you a glimpse into the mind of your pediatrician, here are a few tips your OB/GYN might want you to know: I can’t tell you when you’ll have your baby. While I may be able to provide a really good guess, short of you having a...
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Blog
An 18-month-old toddler was rushed to the emergency room after her grandfather found her sitting on the floor, blood pressure and anxiety pills scattered beside her. She had a fistful of pills in her hand and white powder at the corner of her...
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Blog
No one told me that having a newborn meant I couldn’t leave my house. Ever again. Little did my husband and I know that when we left the hospital with our baby, it was the last time we’d feel sunlight. The next two weeks of our life resembled A...
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Blog
When I was pregnant with my first son, I worried about a lot of things. Would he be healthy? Would we ever sleep again? How long would it take to get back to my pre-baby body? I had the nursery ready, the baby clothes washed, and the car seat...
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Blog
While we tend to celebrate mothers every day, we know this weekend is a big one, so we’re throwing in some extra goodies for the big day. Happy Mother’s Day! 1. Hello, Princess! Hi Charlotte Elizabeth Diana! The royal newborn’s...
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Pregnancy
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Parenting
The Midwest polar vortex and its historic low temperatures, with wind chills falling to -60˚F in some places, have created a winter wonderland for your little ones. But while the snow can be a fun way to spend an afternoon stuck at home, your...
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Blog
The CDC released its annual “Mortality in the United States” report in December, and it offered some good news for infants. According to the report, the infant mortality rate decreased 2.3 percent in 2014 to a new historic low of 582.1 infant...
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Blog
I have come to recognize the “newborn parent” look the second I walk into the exam room for the baby’s first check up. The “deer in the headlights” gaze, eyes puffy from the sudden shock of sleepless nights. Mom in yoga pants, hair in a ponytail,...
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Pregnancy
The abbreviation PPROM stands for preterm premature rupture of membranes. This is when the amniotic sac, or bag of waters, breaks before 37 weeks’ gestation and before labor has started. This complication affects approximately 3 percent of...
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Health
The term “osteo” typically refers to conditions affecting the bones. This is true for osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer that impacts children. This cancer type is the sixth most common cancer in children and typically impacts boys more than girls...
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Pregnancy
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Pregnancy
If you just found out you are pregnant and plan to see an obstetrician for your pregnancy and delivery (as opposed to other providers), you may be wondering how best to select the doctor who will be involved in this very important time in your...
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Health
Have you ever wondered if your baby or young child can hear you? In the United States, 2-3 out of every 1,000 infants are born with a hearing deficit, according to the National Institutes of Health. Hearing loss in an infant or young child can lead...
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Health
Bacterial meningitis is a serious infection of the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Children (and adults) who are diagnosed with bacterial meningitis are admitted into the hospital for treatment. At the hospital,...
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Health
As a parent, it’s probably not news that most unexpected medical issues happen outside of your pediatrician’s regular business hours. And while your local emergency room is always open, it’s not always necessary to spend hours waiting in a busy ER....
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Pregnancy
With about 30 percent of women in the United States delivering by C-section, it is important to be able to separate fact from fiction when it comes to this method of delivery. Whether you know ahead of time that you are having a planned C-section...
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Pregnancy
Preeclampsia is defined as high blood pressure that develops in the second half of pregnancy and is associated with too much protein in your urine, along with other concerning findings such as headaches, vision changes, or pain coming from your...
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Baby
A lactation consultant is a professional who has specialized training in helping breastfeeding women and their babies. Lactation consultants can provide breastfeeding education as well as help if problems arise. Lactation consultants are often...
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Health
Childhood leukemia is cancer of the blood. It is the most common cancer in young people, accounting for an estimated 1 in 3 cancers in teenagers and children, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). It’s important to note, however, that the...
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Health
Laryngotracheitis, otherwise known as croup, is a common upper respiratory illness of childhood. The condition usually affects children 6 months to 3 years old. Symptoms of croup usually include: a hoarse, dry, barking cough (sometimes described as...
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Pregnancy
If you are pregnant with your first baby, your doctor or midwife has likely told you that contractions can be a sign of labor and that at a certain point, you should come to the hospital to be seen. But how exactly do you time them, and how do you...
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Baby
Your baby’s first eye exam will likely occur before your baby even leaves the hospital, according to guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). During these screenings, the doctor will be looking for signs that your baby’s eyes...
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Team Member
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Baby
A neonatal intensive care unit, commonly referred to as a NICU, is a special unit in a hospital dedicated to caring for premature or ill newborns. If your baby is admitted to the NICU, depending on your baby’s health and complications,...
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Pregnancy
Many women are told that when they are admitted to the hospital in labor they will have restrictions on what they can eat and drink. Some are told they can only have ice chips, while others are allowed to drink liquids but are not given any solid...
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Pregnancy
Welcome to Week 31! Just nine weeks to go, which means there’s still time to plan for some of those post-delivery things you’ll need to take care of, and better to take care of them now before the baby arrives when it’s easier to carve out time for...
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Baby
If you will not be breastfeeding your baby, formula can be given to babies beginning at birth. If you know for sure that your baby will not be breastfed, it is a good idea to have the basics of formula feeding down prior to delivery. For example,...
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Pregnancy
Everyone knows that babies can arrive in one of two ways: vaginally or by C-section. But does that mean it’s a good idea to schedule a C-section so you can meet your baby once you are full-term? Or is it better to let nature take its course? In...
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Pregnancy
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Baby
From your diet to feeding issues, there are lots of reasons your baby might experience gas. Here are the top ten things you should know about infant gas (and a word of advice: don’t skip #9!).
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Health
Children are notorious for getting bumps, cuts, and bruises. In rare cases, a serious infection of the underlying bone, known as osteomyelitis, can develop. There are two primary ways a bone can become infected: Direct infection. When a child has...
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Pregnancy
Welcome to Week 35! With still five weeks to go until full term, this is the week that many babies finally stop getting longer (or at least slow down a lot). This doesn’t mean your baby won’t get any bigger—he or she will still be packing on the...