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It’s natural to feel strong emotions when you’re pregnant and just after you’ve had a baby. You may feel elated, or you may feel sad. Many women have the “baby blues” just after birth. They feel sad, impatient, or irritable. These feelings usually go away in a week or two. They don’t always need to be treated by a doctor. For some women, feelings of sadness are much more intense. These intense feelings are called postpartum depression. Postpartum depression can be treated with medication and counseling.

This assessment asks you questions to help you figure out your risk for postpartum depression. Take the Quiz Now!

According to two new research studies, listening to what your children have to say is just as important as talking to them. This interaction is key to their language development. Speaking to your child is still important, but it seems that the give and take of conversation matters more. Click on the audio below:

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Even though breastfeeding is touted as best for both infant and mom, the following article from our library identifies several options available to moms and provide helpful bottle-feeding tips.

If you decide not to breastfeed, or are unable to breastfeed, commercial iron-fortified formulas can provide adequate nutrition for your infant. Infant formulas contain adequate amounts of protein, calories, fat, vitamins, and minerals for growth. However, formula does not contain the immune factors that are in breast milk. The immune factors that are found in breast milk can help prevent infections.

Infants who take enough iron-fortified infant formula usually do not need vitamin and mineral supplements. Fluoride is sometimes needed after 6 months of age if the water supply does not have enough fluoride. Check with your baby’s physician about fluoride supplements. Types of infant formula include the following:

• cow’s milk-based formula
  Most infants should be able to tolerate a standard cow’s milk formula such as Enfamil® with iron, Similac® with iron, or Nestlé® Carnation® Good Start®. These formulas use cow’s milk as a base, but have been modeled after breast milk. These formulas have lactose as the carbohydrate (sugar) source. They are available in ready-to-feed cans, liquid concentrate, and powder.

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During the month of January we’ll be talking about home and auto safety as it pertains to you and your little ones. Below is an article from our OHealthy library that highlights the “10 Ways to Keep Your Family Safe”:

Recent world events may have you feeling especially concerned about your family’s safety. The biggest threats to safety, though, are very close to home. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), motor vehicle accidents, falls, accidental poisoning, drowning, and choking are the leading causes of unintentional death in the United States. Don’t overlook some of the easiest ways to keep your family safe. These 10 tips can help.

1. Buckle up. In the event of a car accident, this simple act can mean the difference between life and death. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people ages 1 to 33, according to the NSC. About every 12-1/2 minutes, someone in the United States is killed because of an auto accident. Every 14 seconds, someone suffers a disabling injury. Seat belts save the lives of thousands of people every year.

2. Use child safety seats. Using a child safety seat can reduce the risk for fatal injury by 71 percent in children under age 1. Be sure to install the seat properly—close to 80 percent are not installed correctly. The safest place for a child safety seat is in the middle of the back seat. If a child must ride in the front passenger seat, the airbag should be turned off. For more information on how to install car seats, visit www.carseat.org.

3. Don’t drink and drive. Consider this: Approximately 40 percent of auto accident deaths involve drinking. In drunk-driving deaths involving children, 64 percent of the children are riding in the drunk driver’s car. About 3 in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related traffic accident at some point in their lives, the NSC says. If you will be drinking, designate a nondrinker to drive. Or call a cab.

4. Wear a helmet. Always use a helmet when biking or when playing sports, such as football, hockey or baseball. About 800 bicyclists die each year in crashes involving motor vehicles, the NSC says. A head injury often results in irreversible damage to the brain. Wearing a helmet can cut the risk for head injury by 85 percent. Enforce strict rules with your kids—no helmet, no playing the sport or biking. Set a good example by wearing your own helmet when biking. Read more.

Secondhand smoking can have harmful effects on your baby or toddler

Today is a historic day for North Carolina as the no-smoking laws goes into effect. Even if you as parents don’t smoke, your baby or toddler can still suffer from secondhand smoke. Read the article below.

Secondhand smoke threatens everyone who inhales it, especially kids. Many young children live in a house with a smoker, and the result is an increased risk for health problems.

Secondhand smoke refers not only to the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar, but also to the smoke exhaled by smokers.

The California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 3,400 nonsmokers die of lung cancer each year because of secondhand smoke. It also causes 22,700 to 69,600 deaths from heart disease in nonsmokers. It’s so harmful the EPA labels it a Group A carcinogen, the category for the most harmful cancer-causing agents.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 25 percent of U.S. children between the ages of 3 and 11 live with at least one smoker in their homes. Children are more vulnerable to secondhand smoke because their lungs are still developing; exposure leads to decreased lung function.

These children are more prone to:

• Respiratory symptoms and acute lower respiratory tract infections. In children 18 months old and younger, secondhand smoke causes up to 300,000 cases of pneumonia and bronchitis each year, the CDC says. Secondhand smoke can cause asthma in children with healthy lungs, and it can worsen asthma for children who already have it. Read more of the effects.

Toast the New Year and Be Safe

Are you ready to leave 2009 behind? Ready or not … here it comes! So bring out the champagne or the sparkling cider and celebrate of all things, being a mom! But before you do, read the following excerpt from OHealthy:

Be careful with the bubbly or you could be among the estimated 1,500 Americans in the ER this holiday season with an eye injury from a flying champagne cork.

When a champagne bottle is opened improperly, the cork can travel up to 50 mph and, in a fraction of a second, permanently injure an eye, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Warm bottles of champagne and poor technique in removing the cork often lead to such explosive results, but simple precautions can cut the chance of injury.

To open a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine the safest way:

• Chill the bottle to at least 45 degrees Fahrenheit before opening.
• Hold down the cork with the palm of your hand while removing the wire hood.

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