Providing pregnant women with counseling to promote healthy oral health behaviors may reduce the transmission of bacteria from mothers to infants and young children, thereby delaying or preventing the onset of caries.
Shared by Susan Rollason, RDH, CDHC, Public Health Dental Hygienist Pregnancy is a unique period during a woman’s life and […]
This collaboration grew out of discussions over many years between Dr. Abla Al Alfy’s team, an Egyptian pediatrician with the Ministry of Health and Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, and the Healthy Children Project’s team.
Using a TENS unit during labor offers a drug free option to pain relief. The word TENS is short for transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation which involves the use of low current electrical currents to treat pain.
It may take time to see the fruits of your labor, but when you do, it makes the work worth the effort. Look around. Do you see any open doors?
As with maternal deaths, many cases of maternal morbidity can be avoided. How can we, as Childbirth Educators and Doulas, address this issue and provide the best care to clients and their families? The answer is two-fold: education and follow-up.
I am the current ICEA Board Treasurer. It’s hard to believe but this is my fourth and final year in this role. It’s been a blast. That said, I was an unlikely candidate. When I started my first term, I had never been on a board, and I was a new ICCE. To quote one of my favorite songs, “How did I get here?”
Cultural differences may seem to divide us, but the underlying care and concern for our families is one of those universal considerations that draws us together.
Everyone has a unique microbiome. This is a microscopic ecosystem of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microorganisms that live on and in us. The vast majority of these microorganisms are either harmless or actually beneficial to human health.
Building a nursing nest in the early-to-middle part of the third trimester can be a special ritual in preparing for baby and breastfeeding. The early preparation helps moms immensely, especially for those early days after baby’s arrival when babies typically nurse frequently and moms feel exhausted.
Childbirth educators are in a unique position to help families reduce and manage fear because we are experts in the three E’s: Education, Empowerment, and Encouragement.
Both of the these books are a good resource in any childbirth educator’s library. The books could also be sent home with parents who are wanting to encourage an understanding to older siblings.
When it comes to safe sleep, it’s not enough to teach expectant parents the important concepts. Today’s parents must be able to address all the aspects of safe sleep with their own parents–and aunts and grandparents and any other older adult who may be caring for the baby.
Count the Kicks, an evidence-based public health campaign, educates and empowers expectant parents to track their baby’s movements in the third trimester of pregnancy. Research shows a change in a baby’s movements could be the earliest, and sometimes only indication that something may be wrong with a pregnancy.
In 1961, the American Academy of Pediatrics began recommending all newborns receive a vitamin K injection as part of routine newborn care. The recommendation was made after review of research which confirmed the administration of vitamin K as an effective preventative treatment for Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (VKDB).
Healthy, lactating women with surplus human milk have choices for it. They produce plenty of milk to feed their own infant(s) and have extra. They can donate it to a non-profit milk bank like the Mother’s Milk Bank of Iowa, donate or sell it peer-to-peer, donate or sell it to a for profit company, do a combination of these or discard it.
Every corner of the world can face an emergency: wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, snowstorms, and the resulting disruptions to infrastructure — like unsafe drinking water — can impact our daily routines. Having a plan for how to care for your nursling during challenging times can help reduce everyone’s stress and keep your family healthy.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the care provided in childbirth centers across our nation. The question: “What are the chances of me getting infected with COVID-19 while I’m pregnant?” is a question that is brought up weekly in my virtual childbirth classes.
Every corner of the world can face an emergency: wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, snowstorms, and the resulting disruptions to infrastructure — like unsafe drinking water — can impact our daily routines. Having a plan for how to care for your nursling during challenging times can help reduce everyone’s stress and keep your family healthy.
Each year the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy (WABA) chooses a theme for World Breastfeeding Week celebrations around the world which is celebrated every year August 1-7. For 2020 the theme is “Support Breastfeeding for a Healthier Planet.”
After becoming pregnant the first time, one thing I knew right from the start was that I would breastfeed my child. I knew it might require a little bit to master breastfeeding after birth, but I felt confident that my baby and I could achieve it. Little did I know that my baby’s severe tongue-tie and lip-tie would make it a lot less simple than I imagined—and forever change my preconceived notions of there being only one “right” way to provide human milk.
As the Executive Director of ICEA, along with the Board of Directors, I hope to be an agent of change. I not only want to get the conversation started among the ICEA community, but also put plans in place that execute the mission of the organization and stand behind our statement on racial disparities.
Starting with pregnancy and birth care and continuing throughout the lifespan of Black Americans, systemic racism affects every aspect of life, from housing to health care to criminal justice to education to employment.
Donor human milk (DHM) is available from non-profit milk banks, for-profit companies and peer-to-peer milk sharing. The focus here is on non-profit milk banking in North America where the operational milk banks follow essential safety standards established by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA).
