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Bringing your new baby home is an exciting and stressful time for the whole family, including your family pet. Whether it is a dog, cat, bird, fish, or any other animal, there will be changes for you and for them when a new baby comes home.

Jade Elliott sits down with Kaitlin Carpenter, MD, a pediatrician with Intermountain Healthcare, to discuss the best ways to introduce your baby to a family pet on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast.

Some studies have shown that children with pets in their home at an early age have less risk of developing asthma by age 7. Another study showed that children with dogs or cats in their home in the first year of life had fewer and less severe respiratory infections.  While the precise cause is unclear, these positive outcomes could be a result of good exposures and possibly because the children are building a health microbiome with help from a pet.

There are some easy things new parents can do to ease the transition for babies and pets:

• Before the baby comes home, prepare your animal.

1. Mess with their food while they are eating.
2. Gently pull on ears and tails.
3. Some parents will even play loud crying noises.
4. Consider getting your stroller out so that the animal can get used to it.

• Give your animal their own space.

1. Find a good place outside.
2. If possible, block off the area with the pet’s food bowl so that it doesn’t become a temptation for babies.
3. Place cat litter boxes well out of reach
4. Make sure aquariums are high enough that little hands can’t reach them to pull them over.

First introductions are important

• Even the best animal may not react normally. Always watch your animal around your baby. Cats often like to sit on babies. Dogs like to lick babies’ faces.

• Just like siblings need extra attention when a new baby comes home, it’s also important to give your pets some extra attention when possible. Include them on walks with the stroller. A few extra belly rubs can go a long way.

The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.

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It’s important to make sure parents and babies are happy and healthy. New parents are sometimes diagnosed with depression or anxiety. An infant’s mental health can impact their overall development.

Jade Elliott sits down with Heather Kunz, social worker, Salt Lake County Health Department, on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast to talk about parental and infant mental health.

Maternal Mental Health

Depression

Approximately 15% of women experience significant depression following childbirth. 10% of women experience depression during pregnancy. 

A woman might experience feelings of:

• Anger
• Sadness
• Irritability
• Guilt
• Lack of interest in the baby
• Changes in eating and sleeping habits
• Trouble concentrating
• Thoughts of hopelessness

To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on how new and expecting moms can manage their mental health by using the acronym SNOWBALL, click here.

To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on postpartum depression and dads, click here.

Anxiety

Approximately 6% of pregnant women and 10% of postpartum women develop anxiety.

This could include:

• Constant worry.
• Feeling that something bad is going to happen.
• Racing thoughts
• Disturbance of sleep and appetite
• Inability to sit still
• Physical symptoms like, dizziness, hot flashes, and nausea

To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on postpartum anxiety and OCD, click here.

Infant Mental Health

Infant mental health is reflected in appropriate cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. 

 Good mental health for children under 5 includes:

• Secure attachments
• Positive relationships
• Confidence
• Curiosity
• Effective communication
• Increasing self-regulation
• Social competence
• Self-awareness
• Expressions of love and happiness

To listen to the Baby Your Baby Podcast on the program, Parents as Teachers, which provides parents with child development knowledge and parenting support, click here.

The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.

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When you find out you’re pregnant you are faced with many choices. One of those choices is whether to have a physician or midwife care for you during your pregnancy and birth. Depending on where you live, you might think that only physicians care for women in pregnancy but, midwives are a safe choice for most women.

Jade Elliott sits down with certified nurse midwife, Emily Hart Hayes from Intermountain Healthcare , on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast to discuss the philosophy of midwifery, what to look for and when you are considering who to care for you and your baby during pregnancy and birth.

In the U.S., certified nurse midwives and certified midwives attend 8 percent of births and the rate is about 12 percent if you look at just vaginal births. In Utah, midwives attend about 10 percent of births.

The advantages of seeing a midwife

Typically, midwives allow more time during prenatal visits and can also provide additional support during labor and birth. Midwives provide the same prenatal screening tests physicians do, including lab tests, ultrasounds, blood pressure checks, and monitoring for complications. Midwives generally have the philosophy to use interventions judiciously. For example, they may not break your bag of waters to speed up the birth process as long as labor is progressing normally.

Midwives offer continuous labor support and that has been shown to decrease the chance of Caesarean section. Midwives will typically intervene as needed. They can prescribe medications and use medications to induce labor. They care for women who are laboring with or without epidural anesthesia for pain relief, and they may recommend a c-section be performed. Midwives generally don’t do a routine episiotomy or order a routine hydration IV, although an IV may routinely be placed for emergencies. They allow moms to eat and drink during normal labor if they desire.

Midwives provide general women’s care and can manage some complications during pregnancy

Midwives may care for you if you have health problem that arises before or during your pregnancy, whether independently or jointly with an OB/Gyn or maternal fetal medicine specialist. They care for women with gestational diabetes and pregnancy induced high blood pressure, depending on the setting, and they can attend births for women who have had a previous Cesarean birth.

There are even midwives who work collaboratively with physicians who jointly care for women with high risk chronic conditions such as Type 1 diabetes, high blood pressure, or autoimmune diseases.

Midwives aren’t just for pregnancy and birth. You can also see a midwife for general women’s primary care and gynecological issues such as pap smears, annual exams, birth control and family planning, immunizations including the HPV vaccine, and breast exams. Midwives care for women throughout the lifespan, from puberty to menopause and beyond. And yes, there are some male midwives.

To learn more about midwives or to find one in your area, click here.

The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.

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November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month. Epilepsy is prevalent worldwide.

Jade Elliott sits down with Margo Thurman, Executive Director, Epilepsy Foundation of Utah, on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast to discuss epilepsy, when it begins and some of the causes.

In the U. S., 3.4 million have epilepsy. In Utah, approximately 30,000. Worldwide there are 65 million people living with epilepsy.  33 1/3 % of those with autism have epilepsy and 1 in every 5 of those with TBI have epilepsy. There are approximately 470,000 children under 17 years of age in the U.S. have active epilepsy.

What is epilepsy?

• Epilepsy is the most common brain disorder – with no age, racial, social class, national or geographic boundaries. Any one of us can get epilepsy.
• Epilepsy is complex and there are many different types of epilepsy. Seizures are a symptom of epilepsy.

When does epilepsy begin for most people?

• Epilepsy can begin at any age.
• About 50 % of cases begin in infancy, childhood and adolescence

What are some causes of epilepsy? Causes before age 1 can include:

• a newborn illness;
• abnormal brain development;
• a genetic disorder;
• encephalitis (infection of brain)
• meningitis (infection of membranes covering the brain)
• febrile illness related seizures (febrile seizures)

What are febrile seizures?

• Children 3 months to 6 years may have seizures with a high fever, these are called febrile seizures. This is more likely to happen to children with a family history of febrile seizures.
• Febrile Seizures occur in 2% to 5% of all children – (2 to 5 out of 100 children)
• Among children who have their first seizure before their 1st birthday, 50 % will have at least one more.

What can parents do if their child has a febrile seizure?

• If child has frequent febrile seizures, talk to your health care team about the best approach to prevent/treat seizures.

Can febrile seizures be cured?

• Children have best chance of becoming seizure free if they have early intervention with a specialist trained in epilepsy and seizures.

What is the basic thing to remember when a seizure happens?

• If your child has a febrile seizure, administer seizure first aid — Stay, Safe, Side
• Stay with your child and start timing seizure
• Keep your child Safe by moving them away from harmful objects
• Turn them on their side and place something small and soft under their head
• If seizures last longer than 5 minutes call 911 or take them to the emergency room
• If your child is walking around, carefully follow them

To contact the Epilepsy Foundation of Utah, call 801-455-6089 or email utah@efa.org

The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.

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Traveling with babies can be both fun and stressful.

Jade Elliott sat down with Kaitlin Carpenter, MD, a pediatrician with Intermountain Healthcare, on this episode of the Baby Your Baby Podcast to discuss some helpful tips to make the travel process more manageable.

Car rides

• Make sure that infants are always in a rear-facing car seat. Get a mirror on the back window or seat so that you can see your baby. Keep the environment comfortable and be prepared to sing silly songs for several hours.

• Do not feed your baby in a moving car. Schedule feeding breaks for babies when they are very young.

• For babies that are getting more mobile (think toddlers), it is important to have “wiggle breaks” every few hours. It can be great to find some place every 2-3 hours that has a park for them to get out and run.

• Toys and snacks are vital. Don’t think you will get to listen to your podcast, you’re more likely to listen to Mahna Mahna by the Muppets for 45 minutes straight, but if the baby is happy,  it is worth it.

Plane rides

• Make sure your infant or toddler has something to chew on during takeoff and landing to help pop ears.

1. If you are breastfeeding, breastfeed during takeoff and landing (if the baby is awake).
2. Often infants will fall asleep because the white noise and vibration are soothing, so don’t wake them up to feed them during landing.
3. For toddlers I like to bring fruit snacks because they make them chew and taste good without making a huge mess.

• Eliminate limits to screen time on an airplane. Have a tablet ready and watch away. Have your child practice using headphones before your trip.

• Bring an empty water bottle to fill up before the flight for a toddler.

• Kids ages 1-2 years are often the biggest challenge. If you can afford to get them a seat, please do. Try to set limits for the important things (kicking the chair in front of them), but let them have some leeway if possible (playing peekaboo with people around them).

• Everyone has been that parent who stands and paces for an entire flight with a screaming toddler. Remember: It is always worse for you than it is for everyone else. Take a deep breath. The flight will eventually end.

The Baby Your Baby program provides many resources for all pregnant women and new moms in Utah. There is also expert advice from the Utah Department of Health and Intermountain Healthcare that air each week on KUTV 2News.