Briefly discusses drowning hazards and teaching swimming safety. Offers tips on keeping children safe around indoor water sources, including water in bathtubs, toilets, and containers, and outdoor water hazards like pools, ditches, and wells.
Protecting your baby Each new learning stage for your baby requires you to pay more attention to prevent an injury. It may surprise you how fast your baby can move from one stage to the next. Being aware of what your baby can do and what skills your baby is likely to learn next will help you prevent injuries. Be aware...
It takes a lot of repetition to teach young children about the dangers of streets, cars, and other vehicles. Motor vehicles can cause severe injury and death. That's why it's so important that you be firm about enforcing these rules. You can help prevent an accident or injury by following these safety tips. Don't allow...
Strollers Taking your child out of the house allows your child to have new experiences and interactions. You may start using a stroller as soon as your baby is born and can keep using one well into early childhood. Take some general precautions to avoid injuring your child. Never leave your child unattended in a...
Washing and disinfecting toys and surfaces helps reduce the spread of germs, especially in child care settings or other areas where many children are together. Store dirty toys in a bin that is out of your child's reach. When a toy gets dirty, such as after a child has played with it and put it in their mouth, put it in...
When a doctor asks questions about your child's eating and activity habits, the information helps identify patterns that may lead to extra weight. Nutrition history You may be asked: To describe your family's meals and snacks during a typical day. What your child eats at school. Who is responsible for meals. Is it the...
Doctors sometimes use the terms "overweight" or "at risk of overweight" to refer to children who weigh more than what is healthy for their height. Doctors use the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts or the body mass index (BMI) to measure a child's weight compared to their height. If you are...
The digestive system is responsible for breaking down food, absorbing nutrients from the food, and ridding the body of waste products from the food. The digestive system consists of the: Upper digestive tract, which includes the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and first part of the small intestine. Lower digestive tract...
The esophagus is the muscular tube that connects the throat to the stomach. The muscles in the esophagus contract to move food and liquid from the mouth through the throat and down to the stomach.
Afterpains are sharp pains in the belly that occur in the first few days after childbirth. They may cause some discomfort. But afterpains help reduce uterine bleeding. They also help shrink the uterus back to the size it was before you were pregnant. You are most likely to notice these pains when you breastfeed...
Afterpains are sharp pains in the belly that occur in the first few days after childbirth. Although they may hurt, afterpains help reduce uterine bleeding. They also help shrink the uterus back to the size it was before you were pregnant. You are most likely to notice these pains when you breastfeed. Breastfeeding...
A childbirth education class can teach you and your partner a lot. This is especially true if it's your first pregnancy. If a friend is going to be your labor coach, they can come too. A good time to start the class is in your sixth or seventh month of pregnancy. Most childbirth education classes will: Give you good...
Learn about pain relief options for childbirth, including medical and nonmedical options.
An epidural for childbirth, called an "epidural" for short, is a tiny tube that puts pain medicine directly into the area in your back around your spinal cord. This area is called the epidural space. An epidural can be used during childbirth to partly or fully numb the lower body. The amount of medicine you get will...
Intravenous (I.V.) medicines may be used in childbirth to help with pain during labor. They also may help you relax. They include opioids and other medicines. You may get one or more medicines through an I.V. How are these medicines given? A nurse will insert a small tube into a vein in your arm (intravenously, or...
A cesarean section is the delivery of a baby through a cut (incision) in the mother's belly and uterus. It's often called a C-section. Sometimes a C-section is needed for the safety of the mother or baby. In most cases, doctors do a C-section because of problems during labor. For example: Labor is slow and hard or stops...
Laboring in water Some hospitals and birthing centers offer tubs or whirlpools for labor. If yours does, talk to your doctor or midwife about laboring in water. The warm water supports your body and can help you to relax. Laboring in water also may reduce the chance that you'll use an epidural for pain management...
During childbirth, the perineum stretches and often tears. The perineum is the muscle and tissue between the anus and the vagina. One step you could take that might help prevent tearing is to stretch and massage the perineum for a few weeks before your due date. Studies show that some people who did regular perineal...
To relieve pain during the second (pushing) stage of labor, an injection called a pudendal block can be given through the vaginal wall and into the pudendal nerve in the pelvis. This numbs the area between the vagina and anus. It doesn't relieve the pain of contractions. A pudendal block works fast, is easily given, and...
To relieve pain during the second (pushing) stage of labor, an injection called a pudendal block can be given through the vaginal wall. It goes into the pudendal nerve in the pelvis. This numbs the area between the vagina and anus. It doesn't relieve the pain of contractions. A pudendal block works fast. It's easy to...
Group B strep infection is caused by a type of bacteria. It's a different kind of bacteria than the kind that causes strep throat. You may have this kind of bacteria in your body. Sometimes it may cause an infection, but most of the time it doesn't make you sick or cause symptoms. But if you pass the bacteria to your...
Cancer in children and adolescents is rare, although the overall incidence of childhood cancer, including ALL, has been slowly increasing since 1975.[ 1] Dramatic improvements in survival have been achieved in children and adolescents with cancer.[ 1, 2, 3] Between 1975 and 2020, childhood cancer mortality decreased by...
Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many immature lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). Childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (also called ALL or acute lymphocytic leukemia) is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. This type of cancer usually gets...
Dramatic improvements in survival have been achieved for children and adolescents with cancer.[ 1] Between 1975 and 2010, childhood cancer mortality decreased by more than 50%. For acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the 5-year survival rate increased over the same time from less than 20% to 68% for children younger than 15...
Childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes a large number of abnormal blood cells. Childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. AML is also called acute myelogenous leukemia and acute nonlymphocytic leukemia. Cancers that are acute...
Adrenocortical tumors encompass a spectrum of diseases with often seamless transition from benign (adenoma) to malignant (carcinoma) behavior. The incidence of adrenocortical tumors in children is extremely low (only 0.2% of pediatric cancers).[ 1] Adrenocortical tumors appear to follow a bimodal distribution, with...
Adrenocortical carcinoma is a rare disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the outer layer of the adrenal gland. There are two adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are small and shaped like a triangle. One adrenal gland sits on top of each kidney. Each adrenal gland has two parts. The outer layer of the adrenal...
Childhood astrocytomas are tumors that start in the star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes. An astrocyte is a type of glial cell. Glial cells hold nerve cells in place, bring food and oxygen to them, and help protect them from disease, such as infection. Gliomas are tumors that form from glial cells. An astrocytoma...
Primary brain tumors, including gliomas, are a diverse group of diseases that together constitute the most common solid tumors of childhood. Brain tumors are classified according to histology and molecular features, but tumor location and extent of spread are also important factors that affect treatment and prognosis...
Nonmelanoma skin cancers include basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). These skin cancers are very rare in children and adolescents. Based on National Childhood Cancer Registry data from 2015 to 2019, the incidence rate of skin carcinomas in children younger than 20 years was 0.1 cases per 1...
