“There’s a major problem with your pregnancy.” Are words no expecting parents anticipate hearing. At our routine twenty-week ultrasound, the ultrasound technician got the doctor, and we heard the words that would forever change our lives. “The bladder isn’t releasing urine” and “the amniotic fluid level is dangerously low.”
Kangaroo care (KC, sometimes referred to as “skin-to-skin”) is the most optimal way to promote close contact and can be done by placing your diapered (undressed) baby on your bare chest. This seemingly insignificant practice will actually promote a strong and healthy relationship between caregiver and baby while helping baby thrive exponentially.
By 15 months, babies eat 6½ teaspoons of added sugars per day, mainly from fruit drinks, soda, cookies, sweetened yogurt and ready-eat-cereals, which are introduced into the diet as early as 9 months. What it means: To put that into perspective, an 8-ounce cup of cola has about 6 ½ teaspoons of sugar. So, babies are eating as much sugar in a day as what you’ll find in an entire cup of soda!
Growing up in the 1960’s, Dr. Diana Farmer’s mother taught Sunday school for disabled children where she first met children who had spina bifida.
“It was a really crummy disease,” Farmer said. Dr. Farmer is now leading innovative research, which holds promise of saving lives and lifetimes.
In the video she discusses the improvements that resulted from the initial fetal surgeries, including a reduction in the need for shunts. She now believes that with the latest breakthroughs involving fetal surgery and stem cells that the paralysis associated with spina bifida will be cured in her lifetime.