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Bringing up baby
Prenatal think-tank workers from across the North by Glen Korstrom
NNSL (Feb 23/98) - Though pregnant women are growing more aware of the dangers alcohol can pose for their baby, some health-care workers are still worried about other prenatal care issues including nutrition.
Earlier this month a territorial-wide conference was held in Yellowknife to
offer community health workers a chance to share their insights on the
important issues now facing mothers across the North.
"Breastfed babies are healthier and that is shown through studies
and lots of research," said Lethbridge, Alberta nurse Jacki Glover said at
the conference.
"Formula-fed babies have been shown to have 10 times the number of
ear infections. And that affects hearing, speech and then how they can
learn."
Clara Frost, a mother of two in Inuvik, agrees.
Frost breastfed her first child and said she found Cyrus, now 3,
grew faster and learned quickly. She breastfed her current nine-month-old
infant Clarissa until about a month ago, when Clara went back to work.
While breastfeeding, Frost said she was very careful about her own
eating habits, getting foods from four major food groups: fruits and
vegetables; milk and dairy products; meat and alternatives; and breads and
cereals.
"Before I had kids I drank because I was still young," the
23-year-old mother says. "Once I knew I was pregnant I stopped."
That message is starting to hit home with many mothers, although
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and its milder version, Fetal Alcohol Effect, are
still causing problems in many communities.
Babies with the syndrome show smaller head size and a slighter,
smaller build. Eyes are often smaller, the nose bone is lower down and the
skin under the nose, known as the philtrum, lacks ripples.
FAS and FAE babies learn, walk and talk slowly and can quickly
forget what they learn.
"They tend to be very floppy," said Stanton Regional Hospital
paediatrician Dr. Nicole Chatel. "They can also be jittery and poor at
sucking."
Meanwhile, there are unpredictable and more obscure dangers mothers
still might be wise to guard against, such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
SIDS is not hereditary and occurs when a thorough investigation
shows a baby has died for no known reason.
"There was a case this year to a single mother," said Fort Good
Hope community health worker Henry Tobac.
Chatel said that to guard against SIDS, mothers could put their
babies on their backs, keep the house at not too high a temperature and not
smoke.
"Smoking can cause a number of respiratory problems," she said.
"And the number of SIDS deaths in the North is above that of the South."
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