For so many Americans who lost their jobs and their insurance, Medicaid is an important safety net. Now imagine you lost both your job and your insurance benefits and your child gets sick, but you have the Medicaid safety net. So, you call your doctor, only to be told that your doctor’s office can’t see your child because he or she cannot see any more Medicaid patients. You are told this is because the state can’t afford to pay the costs for the services. (more…)

Having a baby is one of the most exciting times in any woman’s life. So many fun, new changes happen when we have a baby. There are so many decisions to make, especially about what to feed this new little wonder. Most people have heard that breast milk is best, but often they don’t know why.  Being a nurse and a lactation consultant, I have learned so much about breast milk and why it’s so fantastic. I have a few insights that may help you in making your decision about whether to breastfeed. (more…)

Just say the words head lice and you’ll have parents, teachers and pediatricians cringing. These little creatures, about the size of a sesame seed, mostly affect school-aged children between 2 and 12 years old. Lice also create unnecessary fear and panic.

As children return to school in the fall, our office starts getting calls from worried parents about lice and nits (lice eggs). In some cases, parents call us in tears and tell us that their son or daughter has been kicked out of school until all the lice and nits are gone. Not only do we have to work to get rid of the lice, but we have to fight to get the child back to class.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently issued a report that provides good recommendations for dealing with lice.

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