Blogs

As we navigate through the coronavirus pandemic, it is vitally important to continue with routine infant immunizations. New Mexico has seen a 20 percent decrease in immunizations given over the course of the past several months.

In addition to taking precautions to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 to your children, it is important to continue with taking precautions to prevent other childhood preventable illnesses.

Chances are you know someone with a food allergy or diet restriction of some kind. We may worry about what to make, where to go, how to act and what is the social decorum for our friends with food allergies? The main concepts to remember are to ask, listen and respect. People are at different places with their food allergies. When a person is brand new at eating in a completely different way, it can be emotional and difficult for him or her. If he or she says no to a particular food, please don’t pressure them.

Babies cry. There is no way around it. They can’t talk and tell you what is upsetting them, so they cry. As your baby becomes familiar with the many nuances of life outside the womb, it may help to remember all the changes he or she is experiencing.

Twenty years ago, I huddled around an empty chocolate tin. I had three kids and a husband. It was New Year’s Eve in Y2K (the year 2000). We decided to make a time capsule. We would open it in 2020. Back then, 2020 felt like eons away. On New Year’s Day of this year, that same family, now with four kids, opened that time capsule. I can only remember one tiny item we placed inside that chocolate tin of hopes, dreams, and remembrances. It was a tiny diaper for the now 22-year-old! She was very impressed by it.

The history of midwifery in New Mexico comes from a long linage of rural, indigenous, and modern midwives. Midwives are often much more to their patients and communities than birth assistants. They are the caregivers and empowerers of women and thusly families and communities. A women’s reproductive life starts long before she has a child and lasts throughout the lifespan.

Lovelace Women’s Hospital is filled with employees who are ready and prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic we are facing. We are lucky to have people who are innovative, smart and pride themselves on giving our patients exceptional care, while maintaining a safe environment for all involved.

On the heels of National Nurses’ Day (May 6), I asked my co-worker, who has been a Labor and Delivery nurse for over 20 years, to reflect on her experience. She shared:

By its very nature, Marpac Inc. had already joined the fight against the novel coronavirus.

The Albuquerque-based medical manufacturer’s main business is producing key components used in ventilators.

But when supplies of personal protective equipment began to run low amid the spread of COVID-19, Marpac jumped into that effort, too.

Heeding the call of their occupation, three nurses from Roswell are now in one of the areas of the nation most affected by the coronavirus.

Lovelace Medical Center intensive care unit nurses Brittany Dickman, Cara Alsafi and Jesse Gomez arrived in New Jersey Thursday night and reported Friday afternoon to Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, New Jersey, to assist the staff there.