Daycare: a place of laughter and germs

As if parents of kids born prematurely don’t have enough to worry about during the first couple of years of their kids’ lives, a new study is adding one more thing to their already lengthy “Things to Fret About” list: Daycare germs may put their kids at greater risk of developing serious complications from chronic lung disease.

According to the new study, published in the October issue of the journal Pediatrics, kids with CLDP (chronic lung disease of prematurity — a condition resulting from premature birth in which infants develop respiratory problems like coughing and wheezing) who are in daycare are four times more likely to wind up in hospital emergency rooms, nearly three times more likely to have trouble breathing at least once a week, and twice as likely to need medication over a one year period than kids with CLDP who do not go to daycare.

The researchers contend that the exposure to germs in your average daycare center — generally far greater than what kids who stay home in their first years are exposed to – and the respiratory infections that result may be to blame.  Their recommendation? (Brace yourself, working mothers.) Continue reading »

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Before my husband and I decided to start trying to have a baby, I figured I should try to wean myself off of Prozac. I had been taking the anti-depressant for several years after a couple of bouts of debilitating depression.

After getting the okay from my doctor, I slowly stopped taking my medication. At first, I felt great. But after a few weeks, I was so anxious and depressed that my husband was growing concerned. He gently suggested that I re-think my decision. I saw my doctor and we decided that Prozac was a good choice for me during pregnancy. Luckily, my doctor was supportive of my decision.

Parent Dish interviewed several pregnant women who decided to continue taking anti-depressants despite doctors’ concerns. Continue reading »

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Most of us would agree that males and females respond differently to stressful situations. While boys might cope by ignoring a problem and waiting for it to resolve itself, girls tend to respond by taking action and attempting do something about it.  And while these responses are generalized and may even sound like stereotypes, research has found that there is some biological truth here.  In fact, the differences in male and female responses to stress was recently documented in the womb! Continue reading »

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Just like last week’s announcement that women can put off breast exams until fifty, we weren’t surprised to hear the hew and cry over the new ruling from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology that women can limit pap smears to every other year.

Are insurance companies just try to save a little cash? Are women going to get by with the uncomfortable leg flop just once every other year?

So here’s what fascinated us at Strollerderby: Continue reading »

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Here’s a study that gives you a whole lot of faith in humanity (yes, that’s sarcasm for you).

Researchers at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and the University of Georgia in Athens, have determined a lower drinking age is tied to more unplanned pregnancies. So that country singer was right Continue reading »

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