All Search Results
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Intestinal Atresia or Intestinal Web
Intestinal atresia is a birth defect that results in a narrow, blocked or closed segment of intestine that may be separated from or still connected to the rest of the intestine. During normal development, nutrients flow through the digestive tract and are absorbed. Intestinal atresia prevents your baby from digesting food because the intestines lose their ability to absorb nutrients and push food through the digestive tract. In most cases, intestinal atresia involves the small intestine. However, it can affect any area of the digestive tract.
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Meconium Ileus
Meconium is the sticky, tar-like material that newborns pass as their first bowel movement. Healthy babies pass meconium within their first day of life. Babies with meconium ileus have meconium that is even stickier and thicker than usual. This can cause bowel blockage. Most babies born with meconium ileus also have cystic fibrosis, which affects the lungs and pancreas.
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Are you protecting your newborn from whooping cough?
If you’ve been reading the news the past few weeks, you may have heard about the outbreak of whooping cough, also known as pertussis, that has reached epidemic levels in Washington. There have been more than 1,000 cases reported already this year in the state, and it is reminiscent of the 2010 California outbreak that infected more than 9,000 people and resulted in the death of 10 infants.
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Button batteries: a hidden hazard in your home
Over the past two decades there has been a dramatic increase in the number of children’s emergency room visits due to battery-related injuries. A recent study tracked battery-related ER visits in 100 hospitals across the U.S. and found that over a period of 20 years, the number of these visits had almost doubled. They also found that 84% of these visits were related to button batteries.
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Andrew's story- finding joy in unexpected places
Just days before going into labor on December 23, 2007, Steve and Betsy were anxiously awaiting the birth of their little bundle of joy. All of their doctor’s visits and checkups had been normal, and they were expecting to bring home a healthy, happy baby just a few days after giving birth. Like many other first-time parents, they felt nervous, excited, and a little scared as they awaited the new addition to their family. What they didn’t know was that they were about to go through the most challenging time of their lives.
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Teaching your kids about sun safety
The heat is rising, the sun is shining and school’s almost out. That can only mean one thing, right? Time to hit the beach!
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Celebrating moms (and mental health)
A few days ago, I went shopping for some things for our family’s upcoming beach trip at Target. As I looked through the boy’s bathing suits, I noticed another mom nearby with her own little boy. He looked and sounded to be about 2 years old, and they were having a debate about shorts. He wanted long shorts, and she was reminding him that he doesn’t like to wear long shorts. They went back and forth, and things got a little heated. He got whiny; she got irritated. Eventually she told him, loudly, to stop talking and announced to him that she was “done.” He promptly began wailing about the shorts, and her reaction was to drop her stuff she was buying, pick him up, and yell at him, “You are embarrassing me!” She stomped her way out of Target, carrying him, yelling at him about how he will not be going to his play date later. Yikes!
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Giving to others gives meaning to Haley's battle with cancer
Haley is only 7 years old, but she carries herself with a quiet strength and a calm self-assurance that seems far beyond her years. Perhaps that’s because her childhood has been colored by more than playgrounds and petting zoos. The fabric of who she is and who she’ll become has also been weaved by doctors, hospitals, chemotherapy and cancer.
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Things you may not know about your child's asthma
Written by Heather Staples, 4th year medical student at Florida State University College of Medicine.
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10 tips to encourage your kids to drink more water
Why is it so difficult to get kids to drink a glass of ice water, but they’ll gladly gulp a gallon of murky, mystery water from the bathtub?