Arterial Switch Operation, Atrial Septal Defect, Coarctation of the Aorta, Heart, Transposition of the Great Arteries, Ventricular Septal Defect

A routine prenatal ultrasound turns scary, but offers time to prepare for lifesaving heart surgery

For Lauren Fitzmaurice of Owensboro, Kentucky, after 30 weeks of pregnancy, her due date was starting to seem like it was within reach. Pregnant with her second son, Miles, she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, prompting another ultrasound — all pretty normal stuff. But Lauren’s local OB/GYN noticed something not normal, an anomaly that needed…

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Norton Childrens Medical Group

Child regressing during the pandemic? Ways to help

Child regression can take many forms: Potty accidents, thumb-sucking, baby talk, clinginess and sleep issues. Increased stress, whether due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other disruptions such as the birth of a sibling, parent’s job loss or divorce, can set back a child’s progress and cause them temporarily to lose recently acquired skills. The changes…

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Norton Childrens Medical Group

Yearly checkups screen for mental health

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, children and families have been working through a new, difficult normal. Depending on a child’s situation, there was a lot to be stressed about: completing school at home, isolation from friends and other family, missing big milestones, parents having financial issues due to the pandemic. It’s more important…

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Cancer, Employee stories - Norton Childrens, Heart, Hematology, Infectious Disease, Nephrology

Helping kids avoid and overcome infections after transplants

Victoria A. Statler, M.D., works hard to educate children undergoing transplants on ways to avoid potentially dangerous infections. She also treats them when they do get sick. Children receiving transplanted organs or bone marrow take medicines to help their bodies accept the transplant. The drugs work by suppressing the immune system, so transplant recipients are…

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Cancer, Hematology

Bleeding disorder symptoms: What parents should know

Bleeding disorders are a rare group of conditions that affect blood clotting. The human body has 13 blood clotting factors — blood components such as clotting proteins and platelets — that work together to help blood clot. Should any of these clotting factors be missing or deficient, blood clotting is affected, causing a bleeding disorder….

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Urology

My toddler has blood in their urine. What’s wrong?

If you notice blood in your toddler’s urine, it can be cause for concern. Blood in urine, called hematuria, is when the kidneys or other parts of the urinary tract allow blood to leak into urine. When should parents be concerned about blood in urine? What causes blood in urine? Hematuria, or blood in urine,…

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Orthopedics

Learning from the ‘heart’ kids bring to spina bifida treatment

Like a lot of future orthopedic surgeons, Joshua W. Meier, M.D., liked to build things growing up. What got him interested in becoming a surgeon wasn’t making model planes out of balsa wood or helping his father with home improvement projects, but a video game a friend let him borrow in high school. Set in…

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Autism, News

Study: Black children disproportionately face autism diagnosis delays

Diagnosing a child with autism typically is a monthslong process involving multiple assessments, but for Black children the delay was found to average more than three years in a recent study. From the parents’ first concerns to a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the average length of time was 3.5 years with the children…

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Prevention & Wellness, Teens

5 ways to talk to your kids about alcohol

Here’s a staggering fact: In the U.S., more than 60% of teens have had at least one drink of alcohol. Teen drinking is an issue — and if you think your teen is not doing it, the statistics hint otherwise. If you’re wondering how to talk to your child about drinking, we have some tips….

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Maternal-Fetal Medicine, News, NICU

Strategies for reducing the infant mortality rate

A pregnant patient’s race, social status, access to medical care and living conditions all can affect whether they are more likely to deliver a baby weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces (low birth weight), according to Scott D. Duncan, M.D., MHA, neonatologist with Norton Children’s Neonatology, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine. According…

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Urology

Genital dermatitis in boys: What parents should know

If you’re male, chances are you’ve had — or will have — genital itching at some point in your life. Boys’ genital itching comes with swelling, burning and sometimes a rash — called genital dermatitis. What is genital dermatitis? Genital dermatitis is a skin condition that affects the penis, scrotum, groin, skin around the opening of…

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Norton Childrens Medical Group

New guidelines recommend giving infants potentially allergenic foods

Babies should be introduced “nutrient dense” and “potentially allergenic foods” at 6 months old, according to new guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services. The recommendations state babies should be introduced to foods such as peanuts, eggs, cow’s milk products, tree nuts, wheat, soy, shellfish and…

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