Michigan Military Divorce

Women and children | Report about increased health concerns

My readers know that children's health is a major concern with me, as is teen pregnancy and maternal health. The following Comment, published in Journal Watch, raises major concerns about the increasing birth rates, increasing infant mortality, increasing teen pregnancy and increasing incidence of cesarean section for women. If these aren't your issues, now is the time to hit the delete key.

Lancet retracts position that MMR vaccinations are a cause of autism

From time to time, I write here of children's issues. Because I see so many clients with family law problems whose children have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, I feel it's important to mention that a British medical journal, The Lancet, has "fully" retracted a paper it published in 1998 that suggested a link between measles-mumps-rubella vaccination and the subsequent development of autism.

Why do young parents need a Will?

In an Associated Press story reported today online at http://sphere.com, the reasons why parents of young children should have a Will become instantly apparent. The AP reports on an horrific vehicular accident that instantly killed the parents, Karl Heiss and Marisa Bauducco-Heiss and left their 10-year-old daughter with a catastrophic brain injury. Alden, the Heiss' 6-year-old son was more fortunate. A proper car safety seat left him injured, but he has recovered fully.

It was only after the accident that the Heiss' good friend, entrusted with their 7-sentence, 2 page holographic Will, brought it to the attention of the two sets of grandparents. The Heisses had decided that Marisa's parents, who reside in a village named Ushuaia, near Terra del Feugo at the tip of South America, should have custody eleven months of the year and that Karl's parents, who live in Malibu, California, should have the children one month of the year.

FDA approves Gardasil for Use in Males, approves new HPV Vaccine for females

From the FDA: Gardasil Approved for Use in Males

The quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine (Gardasil) has been approved to help prevent genital warts in males aged 9 through 26, the FDA announced on Friday. As in girls and young women, the vaccine will be given as three injections over a 6-month period. This is good news since males are carriers of the HPV virus and can infect their female sexual partners.

From the FDA: New HPV Vaccine Approved for Females

The agency also approved a bivalent HPV vaccine (Cervarix), manufactured by Glaxo Smith Kline, for use in females aged 10 through 25, according to the manufacturer. The vaccine, which protects against HPV types 16 and 18, both causes of almost all cervical cancers, is expected to be available in the U.S. by the end of 2009.

FDA news release on Gardasil (Free)

Manufacturer news release on Cervarix [New drug from Glaxo Smith Kline] (Free)

Physician's First Watch coverage of FDA advisory panel recommendations on both approvals (Free)

H1N1 Update | Children and pregnant women

H1N1 Update: First Vaccine Shipment to Include Live Attenuated Virus

The first batch of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, to be shipped the first week of October, will likely be in the form of intranasal spray containing the live attenuated virus, CDC officials said in a press briefing Friday.

The CDC anticipates at least 3.4 million doses of the nasal spray vaccine being shipped to states that first week. Children younger than 2 years, pregnant women, and people with underlying conditions such as lung disease and diabetes — although they are at high risk for H1N1 complications — should not receive vaccines with the live attenuated virus. Instead, they should wait until inactivated injectable vaccines become available. Officials said that there may be some injectable vaccines in the first shipment, but it is not certain.

Parents Partnering | Free parent advocacy leadership training

The Parent Leadership in State Government Training Project is sponsoring three two-day training sessions. These will be held in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Gaylord.

Do you have a client or clients who have children with special needs? This is an opportunity for these parents to become trained in advocacy for their children and the other children who are in their communities, schools and day care settings. Here are the details. Please forward this to all parents you think might qualify for and be interested in this training.

Of camps and day care | Kids 14 times more likely to get swine flu

"Mom, can I have a sip of your water?" This is a pretty easy question when you're talking to your young child, right?

 WRONG! Brigid Schulte, Washington Post Staff Writer wrote on Saturday, September 5, 2009 about how insidious the swine flu is, how susceptible to exposure and potential infection our children are . . . and how we have to worry about such simple things as . . . it's a hot day, your child is thirsty and wants a sip of your water. We tend to think of our young children as sharing the same germs we all share at our house.

Tough economic times | Harder for women to breastfeed?

Nursing moms need workplace policies that support breastfeeding. Ask your Members of Congress to co-sponsor the Breastfeeding Promotion Act today! Take Action

Another blog devoted to children's health issues:

Tough economic times may be making it harder for women to breastfeed?  Yes!  According to a recent ABC news story, one of the fall-outs from the recession is that some new mothers are feeling forced to take shorter maternity leaves due to concerns about finances and job stability.¹ Unfortunately, women who have to cut their maternity leave short often can't continue to breastfeed their infants because many workplaces don't adequately support breastfeeding.² That's a big problem when you consider that 56% of women with infants are now the in the labor force--we need common-sense workplace policies to make sure that moms who want to breastfeed can.³

Act now for nursing moms by urging your Member of Congress to support the Breastfeeding Promotion Act: http://momsrising.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27279

Warning for parents about potentially fatal animal bites

Many of my readers know that from time to time I write about children's health issues. This is in an effort to keep parents abreast of the latest information in child health care. When appropriate, I send clients this information because their children are at risk or have already been diagnosed with a disease or condition (autism spectrum disorder, for example).

We all know that from time to time, children get bitten by animals . . . family pets or neighbors'  roaming animals. We worry more about this in the summertime when children are outside playing. I'll bet that we all know someone who was bitten by a dog as a child and has a disfiguring scar on his or her face because the dogs and kids are often the same height. But what most people don't know is that, if not properly treated, an animal bite can be fatal. I'm going to share this information with my clients who have minor children, and I hope that you will share it with yours. If you are a lay reader, please share this information with your family, friends and neighbors. You could save a life.

We all know that from time to time, children get bitten by animals . . . family pets or neighbors'  roaming animals. We worry more about this in the summertime when children are outside playing. I'll bet that we all know someone who was bitten by a dog as a child and has a disfiguring scar on his or her face because the dogs and kids are often the same height. But what most people don't know is that, if not properly treated, an animal bite can be fatal. I'm going to share this information with my clients who have minor children, and I hope that you will share it with yours. If you are a lay reader, please share this information with your family, friends and neighbors. You could save a life.