How to Improve Early Diagnosis & Effective Treatment of Heart Failure in Children

Heart failure in children is an important cause of childhood health problems and death. The Children's Heart Failure Study Group of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, in collaboration with the Canadian Pediatric Cardiology Association, has developed new guidelines to assist practitioners in primary care and emergency departments to recognize and successfully manage heart failure in children with undiagnosed heart disease and symptoms of possible heart failure. The guidelines are published in the December issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

Things You Might Not Know About Raising Twins

About three of every 100 pregnant women in the U.S give birth to twins or triplets. And by many accounts, twin pregnancies are on the rise. Still, even experienced moms may not know what to expect when they bring home newborn twins. 

While it is true that twins can bring double the joy, parenting twins can also require double the work -- at least initially.

"This is survival mode," says Jennifer Walker, Atlanta-based pediatric nurse and co-author of The Moms on Call Guide to Basic Baby Care. Walker is also a mother of twins.  

The key to not feeling you're over your head with twins is planning ahead. Here's what the experts say.

25 Solutions to Handle a New Baby with stress

Jen Singer, author of You're a Good Mom (and Your Kids Aren't So Bad Either) and creator of MommaSaid.net, isn't particularly fond of babies. "That's because both of my sons' first years were the most stressful for me," she says.  "They were colicky, one had reflux, and neither one slept through the night for a whole year."

Tammy Gold understands Singer's sentiments. Gold is a New York-based psychotherapist and a certified parenting coach and mother. She launched Gold Parent coaching in November 2007 to help distraught parents like Singer. "There are nannies, doulas, and lactation specialists," she says, "but no service helps parents with this gigantic change.  Everybody's learning, everybody's struggling."

"It's not just the actual time and effort involved in caring for this tiny creature that makes it so tough to find time for yourself," says psychologist and mom Pamela Freundl Kirst. "There's also an instinctually based psychological drive called primary maternal occupation that focuses your life on the relationship with your infant. Appreciating this can help you find ways to nurture and care for yourself directly."