In addition to the highly specialized care our clinicians provide to patients across the country every day, many also serve as go-to expert sources for top national and regional media outlets. Pediatrix® clinicians regularly contribute to news articles, sharing their expertise to help educate readers on a wide variety of popular topics related to women’s and children’s health, as well as unique stories of innovative patient care.
Here’s a roundup of some of the latest stories:
William Chu, M.D., urgent care pediatrician and practice medical director, spoke to Pregnancy & Newborn about the dangers of overheating in babies and kids. “Heat causes more injury and illness than any other weather condition,” said Dr. Chu. “Heat stroke can cause permanent brain and organ damage or even death without immediate treatment. Other heat-related illnesses include … syncope (fainting), muscle cramps and rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown and kidney damage) and heat rash.”
Ellen Smead, certified nurse-midwife, spoke to The Bump about stomach tightening in pregnancy. Smead advised pregnant people experiencing any worrisome symptoms to reach out to their care team. “OB providers are there for you, so don’t hesitate if you’re worried,” said Smead, assuring readers that stomach tightening does not hurt baby. “The uterus is a thick, walled muscle protecting baby.”
Puji Jonnalagadda, M.D., developmental-behavioral pediatrician, spoke to POPSUGAR about developmentally appropriate toys for 9-month-olds. "The growing brain of a baby craves stimulation and depends on their parents to engage them," said Dr. Jonnalagadda. "Toys provide an easy solution for engaging their babies. Choosing the right type of toys at this age can help them succeed in developing good control of their bodies, improve brain function and use their developing sense of touch, sight and sound."
Jenelle Ferry, M.D., neonatologist, spoke to Parents about how to successfully dream feed a baby. “For some families, and for some ages of babies, the dream feed can help the infant become satiated without fully awakening and then get a longer stretch of nighttime sleep,” said Dr. Ferry. “If your baby is waking at night for reasons other than hunger, the dream feed is less likely to result in improvement.”
Amy Wetter, M.D., obstetrician-gynecologist (OBGYN), spoke to SELF about heavy menstrual cycles due to uterine fibroids, and how lifestyle changes can help manage symptoms. “We think these foods [fruits, vegetables and foods with vitamin D] are helpful because they may help your body eliminate excess estrogen with high fiber content, while antioxidants may help fight fibroid growth,” said Dr. Wetter. “I recommend making those changes, but to also consider medication or other management as diet and lifestyle changes may not be enough depending on the severity of the bleeding.”
Michael Reardon, M.D., pediatric neurologist, spoke to Healthline about new research findings that youth who are prescribed stimulants to treat their Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are not more likely to become addicted to drugs later in life. “The very long-standing viewpoint from the standpoint of psychiatry, mental health and child neurology is that having ADHD increases the risk of experimenting with tobacco, alcohol, drugs; increases the risk of getting into problematic substance use; and that having ADHD that’s not treated or not well managed, increases the risk of substance use problems,” said Dr. Reardon. “Whereas ADHD that’s being treated and managed well lowers that risk.”
Suzy Lipinski, M.D., OBGYN, spoke to Fox News about maternity care deserts in relation to March of Dimes’ latest report, which found that for millions of women in the U.S., getting maternity care is difficult or impossible. "As I meet these patients, they tell me they drove over an hour to get to the hospital they were transferred from — and now they are getting care six to eight hours away from home, without family support and potentially without the ability to keep their job," said Dr. Lipinski.
Zachary Hoy, M.D., pediatric infectious disease specialist and practice medical director, spoke to Verywell Health about summer colds. “The best ways to treat a summer cold are increasing hydration and getting extra rest,” said Dr. Hoy. “Since there are no antivirals for colds, your body requires rest and hydration to help keep the immune system fighting off these viruses and helping you feel better.”
Sissi Cossio, M.D., pediatric endocrinologist, spoke to Parents about the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of new oral medications for treatment of type 2 diabetes in kids. “Pediatric endocrinologists have waited for a long time to have access to more choices of medications in the treatment of type 2 diabetes in children,” said Dr. Cossio. “[As] physicians start offering these new approved medications to their patients, together we will reassure families that we have been monitoring the progression and safety of these new drugs.”
Jill Purdie, M.D., OBGYN and practice medical director, spoke to Forbes Health about chemical pregnancies. “The egg is fertilized, an embryo develops and may implant in the uterus, but a fetus does not develop,” said Dr. Purdie. “With a chemical pregnancy, there is no development to the point where the pregnancy can be recognized on an ultrasound.”
Kelvin Lau, M.D., pediatric cardiologist, spoke to POPSUGAR about cardiac arrest in younger people and whether sports play a role. "More rapid progression of disease can also be seen in certain conditions with consistent high-intensity training," said Dr. Lau. "Competitive athletics can also result in stressors that may lead to cardiac arrest in heart diseases that are not typically heritable, such as in myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) or commotio cordis, where a forceful impact to the chest results in traumatic injury to the heart."
Karen Keough, M.D., pediatric neurologist and practice medical director, spoke to the Austin, Texas ABC affiliate, KVUE-TV, about her medical mission work in Kenya over the past six years. "It's really what you go into medicine for in the first place, and that was what keeps me going back,” Dr. Keough said. In partnership with the local nonprofit, Ubuntu Life Foundation, Dr. Keough and several colleagues have provided children with specialized medical care they would not normally have access to. “It was something that I wanted to do from the first time that I heard about it. And after my first trip, I was definitely hooked.”
Omoikhefe Akhigbe, M.D., OBGYN and practice medical director, spoke to Everyday Health about signs of sexual dysfunction women. “Everyone is not born with the same sex drive and the drive may increase and decrease over time or fluctuate depending on life situations,” said Dr. Akhigbe. “For example, relationship stress, new parent sleep-deprivation, acute emotional distress, pelvic and chronic pain and chronic medical and psychiatric conditions may affect sex drive.”
Rajitha Julapalli, M.D., urgent care pediatrician, spoke to Scary Mommy about safe water play. "For toddlers, sprinklers and splash pads are good options for water play,” said Dr. Julapalli. “There are many fun water toys, floats and even waterproof books that you can play with alongside your child in the water. Adults can take turns being 'water watchers' with other adults to give each other a break."
To view additional stories, visit the Pediatrix newsroom.
Members of the media, we invite you to view our multispecialty media panel and request an expert source via communications@pediatrix.com.