Program offers at-home help for new parents
A NEW SERVICE in Spokane called Baby Steps offers brand-new parents the reassurance of a home visit from a registered nurse. The service is offered by Family Home Care, a private home-care business in Spokane.
During the home visit, the nurse can provide breast-feeding advice, take a look at the new baby’s skin rashes, make sure the new mother is recovering well from childbirth and answer all the little questions that arise during the first weeks of baby being at home.
The nurse’s visit is packaged with services from a home health worker. For $95, you get a nurse visit and three hours of around-the-house help. For $230, you get a nurse visit and eight hours of help. For $625, a nurse visit and 24 hours of help.
The home health worker’s visits can be divided up into convenient blocks of time. Workers can help with meals, entertaining older children, shopping, laundry, basic baby care and housework.
“The target would be people with some disposable income or grandparents who want to buy something special as a baby gift,” said Donna Goodwin, vice president of operations for Family Home Care. Groups of people who want to chip in on a baby shower gift might also be interested.
Family Home Care has just started promoting the service with brochures in doctors’ offices, so there aren’t any clients to give testimonials yet. One of the promotional lines from the brochure — “It wasn’t this hard for June Cleaver. Was it?” — gets at the revelation shared by new parents everywhere: Having a new baby in the house is hard work.
For information on Baby Steps, call (509) 473-4949.
Sports talk
Dr. P.Z. Pearce knows sports. He’s an Ironman athlete himself and team doctor for the Spokane Chiefs and Spokane Indians. He also serves on the medical staff of the Seattle Seahawks. So that’s hockey, baseball and football injuries he’s had to treat.
Pearce will share training tips to help avoid injuries from these and other sports Wednesday at 7 p.m. at REI, 1125 N. Monroe St. His talk is free.
He’ll also discuss symptoms and treatments for common injuries.
Reservations are recommended. Call the Group Health Resource Line to save a spot at (800) 992-2279.
Shots registry online
Doctors and other health-care providers now can update children’s immunization records online. The improved Web-based CHILD Profile Immunization Registry is run by the Washington Department of Health.
The Web-based registry was piloted in April, and is now available to any health-care provider. Patients can’t access the secure site, but can get their immunization records from their health-care providers. Providers who would like to participate in the free Web-based registry should call (800) 325-5599.
“We know how easy it is to lose track of immunization records,” said State Health Officer Dr. Maxine Hayes in a press release. “Families move, change health-care providers, and lose the little book they were given years before to keep track of immunizations. This new system makes it easier to keep track.”
Thumbs down on keepsake ultrasound
The American College of Radiology warns parents against fetal ultrasound videos sold for entertainment purposes.
“This is a patient safety issue,” said Dr. Carol Rumack, chair of the group’s ultrasound committee in a press release.
“Ultrasound should not be used without a medical indication. Images of the fetus are an opportunity to diagnose problems before birth that may require treatment. These images should be interpreted by physicians properly trained in ultrasound and discussed with the parents and treating physicians in order to plan for the best care of the baby and mother.”
The radiology group will provide a link on its Web site that its members can use to report facilities engaged in the practice of selling keepsake videotapes of fetal ultrasounds.
Bad cheese
After two cases of illness related to E. coli infection were linked last week to consumption of unapproved queso fresco cheese served at a restaurant in Whatcom County, two state agencies issued a warning:
Don’t buy Mexican-style soft cheeses unless they’re made by a processor licensed by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. The warning came from the agriculture department and the Washington State Department of Health.
The cheese should be refrigerated until it is eaten and used by the expiration date stamped on the package.