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Dean Durrant and his wife, Alison Spooner, a mixed-race couple from Britain, welcomed their second set of twins in November, according to People magazine. What makes this so special? One twin is black and the other white – the same as their first set of twins. The couple's first set of twins, Lauren and Hayleigh, were born in 2001.

(1-13-09)

Rebecca Romijn, 36, star of TV's Ugly Betty, and her husband, Jerry O'Connell, 34, have welcomed twin girls, according to People magazine. Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip were born on December 28. The twins are the couple's first children.

(1-13-09)

When an infant is admitted into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), parents often experience challenges with establishing their roles as parents because their newborn infants – out of necessity – spend more time in the care of medical professionals than with their families.

A new article in the November/December issue of the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic and Neonatal Nursing (JOGNN), published by the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), concludes that nurses are well positioned to assist families during this difficult time because they are at the forefront of patient and family care.

"Parenting in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit," by Lisa M. Cleveland, RN, MN, CPNP, IBCLC, takes an in-depth look at 60 studies that focus on parents who have infants in the NICU, with the goal of uncovering the specific needs of these parents and what nurses can do to positively support them to establish their role as parents.

According to the article, parents with an infant in the NICU have six main needs. These needs include the following:

• To receive accurate information and be included in their infants' care
• To be able to watch over and protect their infants
• To have contact with their infants
• To be perceived positively by the nursery staff
• To receive specialized attention, especially fathers
• To establish a therapeutic relationship with the nursing staff

To assist parents with these needs, the article determines that nurses can provide support in the following ways:

• By providing emotional support to parents
• By empowering parents
• By providing a welcoming environment
• By giving parents the opportunity to practice new parenting skills with their infants in the NICU with assistance from the nursing staff

"With the birth of premature infants on the rise in the United States, this article highlights the important role nurses can play during this time in the families' lives," says Dr. Karen Peddicord, executive director of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

(1-06-09)

When faced with the challenges of a dismal economy, many parents are looking for ways to share meaningful and memorable times with their children without spending money. According to psychotherapists Marilyn Kagan, LCSW, and Dr. Neil Einbund, Ph.D., "We are not defined by our money; nurturing stronger connections with your kids is one way to have a more rewarding life."

Kagan and Dr. Einbund are the authors of Defenders of the Heart: Managing the Habits and Attitudes That Block You from a Richer, More Satisfying Life (Hay House, 2008). Here are 5 tips for starting some new activities that can enhance the well-being of your entire family:

1. Give back; teach altruism. Are your kids growing not only out of their clothes but also their toys and books? How about taking three Saturdays and spending a half hour each time with your kids pulling out clothes, toys and books that are no longer used. Donate clothes, books and toys to a homeless shelter. Make sure you explain why people become homeless and how it's important to show compassion toward others who have less.

2. Stop the procrastination; take action for improvements. Have you and other parents at your child's school expressed negativity about the shape of the school? Are you wishing the colors were brighter? The grounds greener? How about setting up one day a month for a "working" lunch. Each family brings food to share and also a rake, a paintbrush, some flowers to plant, some rags and buckets for cleaning. Whatever the joint activity, you are all doing something as a team. Instead of just talking about something in the future, collectively you are stopping the procrastination cycle of "we'll get around to it tomorrow" or "someone should do something about this."

3. Stop rationalizing; resolutions often occur when kids are heard and valued. Are your kids going at each other's throats? Treating each other disrespectfully? Are you so discouraged about the disconnection between all of you that you've started to rationalize to yourself "kids will be kids," or "all families must be like this." One solution is setting up an ongoing weekly family meeting for the same time, same day of the week and same place with everyone expected to be there (no excuses accepted). Each person gets the floor for two to four minutes without being interrupted, or judged. Don't lecture the kids – just listen and learn. Set 10 minutes to seek solutions without any complaints.

4. Build memories; make fun time a weekly regular. Staying physically fit together is a time for family bonding. Make a list of sports, games or anything that gets you moving. Let one family member choose the activity weekly. Initially, there might be resistance and impatience (especially from the older kids). But every family member makes a commitment to be there, participate and do their personal best.

5. Involve them and they will realize that broccoli isn't so bad. Choose healthier eating for yourself and your kids. Know that it can't be a 360-degree change. Start small by setting up two delicious and healthy meals per week. If cooking healthy isn't your strength, go with your kids to the library to check out some simple healthy cookbooks, or search online for recipes. Have your kids help in ways they can, such as washing, dicing, cutting, mixing and preparing the ingredients. Give your kids tasks that they developmentally can handle will set the family up for success. And then have fun cooking and eating together.

(1-06-09)

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), approximately 16 percent of all consumer fireworks injuries are caused by sparklers burning hands and legs, with the majority of sparkler injuries occurring to young children. In fact, sparkler injuries accounted for one-third of all firework injuries to children 5 years or younger. These are injuries that would not have occurred if there had been close adult supervision and if some basic safety steps had been taken. The National Council on Fireworks Safety offers these safety steps for sparklers, in the hopes that sparkler injuries to young children can be greatly reduced.

Children under the age of 12 should not use sparklers without very close adult supervision.

Always remain standing while using sparklers.

Never hold a child in your arms while using sparklers.

Never hold, or light, more than one sparkler at a time.

Sparklers and bare feet can be a painful combination. Always wear closed-toe shoes when using sparklers.

Sparkler wire and stick remain hot long after the flame has gone out. Be sure to drop the spent sparklers directly in a bucket of water.

Never hand a lighted sparkler to another person. Give them the unlit sparkler and then light it.

Always stand at least 6 feet from another person while using sparklers.

Never throw sparklers.

Show children how to hold sparklers away from their body and at arm's length.

Teach children not to wave sparklers, especially wooden stick sparklers, or run while holding sparklers.

Sparklers have been a traditional means of celebration for hundreds of years. Let's teach our children how to use them safely and help prevent needless injuries.

The National Council on Fireworks Safety is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization whose sole mission is to educate the public on the safe and responsible use of consumer fireworks. Learn more at www.fireworkssafety.org.

(12-30-08)

Just six months after the Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit opened, more than 75 babies have been born and are sharing their first holiday season with their joyful families. Families from 13 states and at least two other countries have traveled to Children's Hospital for expert prenatal care, delivery and postnatal care for their babies in a place where family comes first.

The Garbose Family Special Delivery Unit (SDU) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is the world's first comprehensive obstetrical unit within a pediatric hospital for mothers carrying a fetus with a known birth defect. It is an innovative new labor and delivery unit for expectant mothers whose babies require highly specialized, sophisticated neonatal, surgical or cardiac care at birth. Unlike centers where mothers give birth and recover in one hospital while their critically ill newborns are transferred to a specialized pediatric facility, the SDU allows the mother and baby to stay in the same hospital with a multidisciplinary team of experts caring for both the mother and the baby.

The uniqueness of the SDU goes far beyond the geography of having the mother and baby together in a pediatric hospital. The unit staff strives to optimize and individualize the birth experience for mothers and normalize their delivery experience as much as possible during a difficult and technically challenging time for the baby. After the birth, the SDU team immediately fosters bringing the family together, encouraging parents to be with their new babies as soon as possible and will even provide some of Mom's postpartum care in the intensive care units where these babies are being cared for. This helps to make an overwhelming time a little bit easier because families aren't divided.

The SDU teams also works to help families achieve the best experience even at a time of uncertainty. Families start from the baby's birth, not from the time of discharge, and are supported by other families on the unit because everyone is experiencing a similar type of life-changing event.

"This state-of-the-art, one-of-a-kind Special Delivery Unit provides the most personalized, comprehensive care for these families before, during and after birth," says Dr. N. Scott Adzick, surgeon-in-chief at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and medical director of the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment (CFDT). "Babies are delivered and treated immediately in the Harriet and Ronald Lassin Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit (N/IICU) or the Evelyn and Daniel M. Tabas Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) while the mother recovers in the same hospital."

The first baby born in the Special Delivery Unit, Caoimhghin Williams, arrived on Tuesday, June 10 at 9:43 a.m. During their 18-week ultrasound, Courtney and Martin Williams of Albany, N.Y., learned that their fourth son had spina bifida.

Courtney's younger sister had been born with spina bifida and she was surprised but not completely shocked with the diagnosis. Their obstetrician referred the Williamses to the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment at Children's Hospital. After a one-day evaluation process with the CFDT team, they knew for certain that the baby had spina bifida and that they would need to deliver their baby at CHOP.

Courtney and Martin welcomed Caoimhghin into the world and were able to spend time with him before he went into surgery – which was necessary to close the opening on his spine. They were by his side immediately after the procedure. Courtney and Martin were thrilled to be able to go down the hall to the Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit to see their son the same night that he was born. The SDU team focused on keeping the family together as much as possible.

Courtney's mother tells a truly compelling story about how Courtney's experience delivering Caoimhghin in the Special Delivery Unit is light years away from the care she received when she delivered a baby with spina bifida more than 20 years ago. The grandmother poignantly notes that she remained in her community hospital, unable to visit the hospital where her baby daughter was receiving care, which was hours away from home, until after her discharge from the hospital five days later. She needed to search to find a neurosurgeon for her daughter's surgical repair and just wanted to feel like a normal mom. The SDU is exactly the experience she hoped that Courtney would have – the ability to be with Caoimhghin immediately, to know his neurosurgeon and to feel like her delivery experience was normal.

For more information, visit www.chop.edu.

(12-30-08)

A maternity leave of six weeks or less, or between six and 12 weeks, has been associated with a fourfold and twofold higher risk, respectively, of non-established breastfeeding, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers examined breastfeeding duration in new mothers – age 18 or older, who gave birth to a single child (all in southern California) without abnormalities – between July 2002 and December 2003. The study found that women with maternity leaves ending within six weeks of giving birth are three times more likely to stop breastfeeding, compared to women who do not return to work. Women working in inflexible or non-managerial jobs, and those with high psychosocial distress, are at greatest risk of breastfeeding cessation.

Maternity leave after delivery but not prior to delivery influences breastfeeding success. The AAP recommends that babies be breastfed during the first year of life, and for as long as is mutually desired. The study authors recommend that pediatricians encourage women to take maternity leave, and advocate for extended, paid postpartum leave and more flexibility in working conditions for breastfeeding women.

(12-30-08)

A new study links in-home smoking bans with parental understanding of the negative effects of thirdhand smoke – the residual tobacco contamination that remains after a cigarette is extinguished, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.

For the study, researchers conducted phone surveys of more than 1,500 households to assess the level of agreement with the statements that breathing air in a room today where people smoked yesterday could harm the health of children.

Overall, 95.4 percent of nonsmokers versus 84.1 percent of smokers agreed that secondhand smoke harms the health of children, and 65.2 percent of nonsmokers versus 43.3 percent of smokers, that thirdhand smoke harms children. Strict rules prohibiting smoking in the home were more prevalent among nonsmokers – 88.4 percent versus 26.7 percent. Belief that thirdhand smoke harms the health of children was independently associated with rules prohibiting smoking in the home. Health messages about thirdhand smoke contamination should be incorporated into tobacco control campaigns, programs and routine clinical practice.

(12-30-08)

The new recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule urges an annual influenza vaccine for all children, ages 6 months through age 18, all eligible close contacts of children 0 through age 4 and contacts of children ages 5 through 18 who have an underlying medical condition that predisposes them to influenza complications.

The new schedule also includes the dosage schedule for a second oral rotavirus vaccine recently licensed by the Food and Drug Administration. The immunization schedule has been approved by the AAP, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

(12-30-08)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently joined Target, of Minneapolis, Minn., in announcing a new notification system for communicating product recalls in Target stores nationwide. Target's innovative safety and recall notification program involves posting signs throughout its stores that direct guests to gift registry kiosks near the Guest Service desk to learn about recalled products.

Through the kiosk system, guests in Target stores will have easy access to notices of new or past recalls for all product categories and can print copies of safety and recall notices to take with them.

Target will continue to post safety and recall information at Target.com, provide links to the CPSC and related Web sites and send e-mails to guests who have purchased recalled products online. To further increase awareness of recalls, Target has introduced a new process for eligible Target REDcard account holders, which provides recorded phone messages for guests who purchase an item that has been recalled.

CPSC would also like to urge consumers to sign up to receive automatic e-mail updates on recalls. "We have several subscription lists so consumers have more choices in the types of messages they can receive to ensure their families are safe," says Acting Chairman Nancy Nord.

By logging on to www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx consumers can tailor the type of e-mail notification they prefer, based on product type. Subscription lists include the following:

• All CPSC press releases, including recalls
• All recalls only
• Only those recalls involving infant/child products
• Only those recalls involving products used for sports and recreation
• Only those recalls involving products used outdoors
• Only those recalls involving household products
• Only those recalls involving specialty products

At the gift registry kiosk or at www.target.com, Target guests can also search for recall information based on specific product categories.

(12-23-08)