Category Archives: All

All, Common Myths

Baby Walker Worries

Image result for baby walkers"

Image from cnn.com

Madison McGuire

Baby walkers are wheeled devices consisting of a suspended fabric seat with leg holes that allow infants to push themselves around before they can walk. Some people believe that baby walkers can help their baby learn to walk. While these devices might seem like a great way to entertain or stimulate a child, they may delay a baby’s ability to walk independently and can cause serious injuries from the device tipping over or moving towards dangerous areas, such as an oven or a swimming pool. 

There is some research to suggest baby walkers may cause a delay in motor development. A previous study showed that 102 infants who used baby walkers started crawling about a month later and started walking about 3 weeks later on average than the 88 infants who didn’t. The delay was shown to be about 3 days for every 24 hours of walker use. According to many physicians, the explanation is that babies use their leg muscles in a different way while being suspended in a baby walker compared to pulling themselves up and learning to walk. Since the infants can’t see their legs or feet in the walker, they are not receiving the visual feedback normally associated with moving their limbs. When a baby is spending time in the walker rather than playing on the floor or learning pre-walking skills, such as rolling over, sitting up, and pulling up, they are not practicing movement and balance. 

The enhanced mobility also puts the child at risk for falling down the stairs, crashing into something, or easily reaching for potentially harmful items, even under a parent’s watch. Rather than using walkers, parents are encouraged to allow their baby to spend lots of time on the floor in a playpen to practice the movements needed for them to reach their walking milestones.  

https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/baby-walkers

https://www.parenthub.com.au/baby/baby-health/baby-walkers-helpful-harmful/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC116446/

All

Seafood during pregnancy

Image result for seafood

Image from TripAdvisor

Andrea Hernandez

You might have heard warnings that pregnant women ought to avoid eating seafood because it can harm the development of the baby. Uncooked seafood is unsafe because there is a risk of ingesting contaminated foods with coliform bacteria, toxoplasmosis and salmonella. This is also true for uncooked poultry and other meats. Raw seafood can have specific types of parasites. Cooked seafood during pregnancy can be beneficial for fetal development.

Seafood like shrimp and salmon are generally safe and beneficial to eat as long as they are properly cooked. It is beneficial to eat fish because it is a great source of protein, iron and zinc. These nutrients are necessary for a baby’s growth and development. Seafood is also rich in omega-3 DHA which is needed for brain and eye development. 

However, high mercury content in seafood like shark and swordfish are harmful at high levels. High concentrations of mercury can cause brain damage, hearing and vision problems to the baby.

Next time someone you know is told to avoid seafood during pregnancy, you can specify to avoid uncooked foods and high mercury seafood!

https://www.aboutseafood.com/eating-seafood-while-pregnant-guide/

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/pregnancy-and-fish/art-20044185

https://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/foods-to-avoid-during-pregnancy/

 

All, Telehealth and Telemedicine

Virtual Care

Image result for telemedicine

Image from PYA

Andrea Hernandez

In the past few years, there has been a rise in telehealth, video visits with a remote clinician in particular. The use of virtual care is dependent on a person’s comfort meeting with their primary-care-provided (PCP) or a different provider via phone or video. Virtual care is an attractive option because it is more convenient and less costly than an in-person visit.

Some people are more open to telemedicine than others. A U.S nationwide survey conducted in 2015 found that respondents were more willing to see their own PCP via telemedicine, less willing to use telemedicine to see a different provider from the same healthcare organization, and least willing to use telemedicine to see a different provider from a different healthcare organization.  

A study among patients with acute respiratory infection found that a telehealth visit was less expensive than an in-person visit, but increased collective health care spending because of convenience. Patients were more likely to initiate follow-up virtual visits if they had lingering questions about their diagnostic or symptoms. It seems like effective virtual care should aim to put people at ease.  

Although virtual care is convenient and less costly, people of limited means may be less able to afford the technology (smart phone and data) needed to access virtual care. Further steps are needed to improve accessibility for people of limited means, in order to provide a wider range of people the option to decide what type of health care visit they want. 

https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2217&sectionid=187795446#1153060791

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2740743

https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1130

https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0989

https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-017-2744-8