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Most newborn skin problems can usually be dealt…
Date Recorded
March 20, 2017 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Kids Health Transcription
Interviewer: Newborn acne, is it something to worry about? What should you do about it? We'll find out next on The Scope.
Announcer: Health tips, medical news, research and more for a happier, healthier life. From University of Utah Health Sciences, this is The Scope.
Interviewer: Dr. Amy Williams is a pediatrician with University of Utah at the South Jordan Clinic. And a parent has a child and the child gets a rash. And I understand that's a call you get a lot.
Dr. Williams: Yes.
Interviewer: They tend . . . a little freaking out happens. So let's talk about when you should be concerned about that rash, and when it's probably not a big deal, and what to about it.
Dr. Williams: Yeah, great question. I think it's a really difficult thing sometimes to know what a rash is. And quite honestly, a lot of times, doctors have to get second opinions. Rashes can be sometimes very easy and sometimes they are just confusing. So the newborn, usually, they come out with a lot of rashes and I think that's something we can focus on because a lot of them are things that parents can do at home and they don't need to bring them in.
The rash that I most commonly get questions about is the newborn acne, and it usually start to show up a couple of weeks after they're born and they get something that looks very much like a teenager's acne: the white pimples and the red on the cheeks, on the forehead. Sometimes it's all over the neck. And parents get really concerned because it shows up and we . . . they don't know what to do.
A lot of times, this is all just related to the changes that are happening in the baby during that first couple of weeks: they came out of mom, they were exposed to mom's hormones and everything and they're having this changes in their body. And the acne shows up, but quite honestly, it's a very healthy, happy, non-urgent rash. And it's something that parents can do nothing about and just allow the baby to recover from it. It usually takes a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of months.
Interviewer: And no harm done?
Dr. Williams: No harm.
Interviewer: No skin damage?
Dr. Williams: You don't have to start buying over the counter acne medicine.
Interviewer: It's a little early to start, right?
Dr. Williams: In fact, we encourage you not to do that for a baby. Their skin is so sensitive that they really can't handle any of the medication we do for teenagers or adults. It's very healthy rash and you don't have to do anything about it all, and it will go away on its own.
Interviewer: Are there ever any instances where it doesn't?
Dr. Williams: Sometimes they are so severe that we will have a dermatologist look at it and have an evaluation to see if there's any treatment. Obviously, if there are any signs that it's getting infected or the rash is changing, those are things I would definitely bring the in for. And you can always bring them in for a concerning rash and we can always talk to you about it. If it doesn't feel all right to you, bring your baby in.
Interviewer: Yeah. And you said this lasts for about two weeks, generally?
Dr. Williams: It lasts a couple of weeks to sometimes a couple of months. Sometimes, it lasts until they're four months old and then it resolves on its own. But it's not related to food, it's not related to anything else other than their body just changing.
Interviewer: So if the acne is kind of coming and going and a new one appears, and then disappears and the new appears that goes on for a couple of months, that's totally normal?
Dr. Williams: Totally normal. Don't pop them.
Interviewer: Okay. That more good advice. For the rest of your life, that's good advice, right?
Dr. Williams: Don't ever pop them. It is something that is natural and although maybe they won't look great in baby pictures, it is absolutely normal and fine. Please don't put makeup on the baby. Just let them be who they are, let them transition.
Announcer: Thescoperadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at thescoperadio.com.
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Most moms can attest to how hard it can be to…
Date Recorded
August 20, 2015 Health Topics (The Scope Radio)
Family Health and Wellness
Kids Health
Womens Health Transcription
Interviewer: You've just had a baby and then you've got to go to your first doctor's appointment for the first checkup. How about if the doctor came to you instead of you needing to go to the doctor? We'll talk about a brand new service at University of Utah Healthcare called "newborn home visits," next on The Scope.
Announcer: Medical news and research from University Utah physicians and specialists you can use for a happier and healthier life. You're listening to The Scope.
Interviewer: Dr. Amy Williams is a pediatrician at the South Jordan Clinic for University of Utah Healthcare and the person who came up with this great idea and you're going to love her for it, newborn home visits. Why did you decide that newborn home visits were a good idea?
Amy: I think there's a really difficult time in the beginning of after having a baby that mothers are trying to establish a relationship with this new baby. They're trying to get home from the hospital and recover and so I felt like it was a really good time for us to come in and help patients with just a critical period in their life that they need some help.
Interviewer: Yeah, so otherwise they'd have to come in and visit a doctor. At what point in the newborn's life is that first visit?
Amy: They are usually coming in within the first week so they get home from the hospital, a couple days later, they're supposed to pack up, get back into a clinic again to have that baby reestablished with their primary care provider and we're trying to alleviate that first three to five days or that first week when they're supposed to come and see us.
Interviewer: And what do you feel the benefits are for that other than
Amy: There are lots. Lots.
Interviewer:
of course, you know, it's convenient. But let's talk about all of them.
Amy: Well, one of them is that we're taking that transition period that the mom's trying to have and just taking that stress from her life so that's obviously a great benefit. We come into the home so it's helpful for parents. They get to show us what they're working with at home so sometimes that's even a benefit where we can look at their environment, help them, show breastfeeding right at their place as opposed to coming to some foreign little clinic office and just reducing the risk of that baby coming in and exposing them to all the other stuff again.
Interviewer: Yeah, sure, sure. Sure.
Amy: It's also a benefit to mom if she's had some sort of surgery. Recovering from having a baby is physically hard and it takes a lot of healing and so if mom's able to move less, we're also doing mom a favor, not only the baby.
Interviewer: Give me an example, tell me a story of a time you went in and you were able to take the mother's environment and actually help making caring for her newborn easier because you saw something going on that they didn't realize.
Amy: I had twins that came home from the newborn intensive care unit. They were premature and they were sent home on car beds, so not car seats. And the mom was trying to figure out how to get her kids in these car beds to the clinic. So I said, "Don't worry about it. We're going to come to your house and we will check them and make sure that we can transition them to a car seat at your house."
So we got to the house, we were able to setup oxygen, just monitoring and see if they could do these car seats. And during that time, we were able to see how the mom was moving around the house and how she was functioning with twins, how she was holding them and help her with breastfeeding and all of that. It was great because after that, she's able to take her kids anywhere now in car seats and she doesn't have to try and figure out how to do these car beds, which are quite cumbersome.
Interviewer: Tell me how do you get that home visit? Is there a special code word?
Amy: Well, the University, right now, we're just offering it at South Jordan Health Clinic, but we want to start getting it out to all the other clinics. So anyone who has their baby seen at the University of Utah Healthcare in any of the community clinics, hopefully at some point we'll have it all there. Right now, parents can just call the 801-213-4500 number that they normally would call to get an appointment for their babies at South Jordan Health Clinic. And at that time, the call center offers them either a home visit or the parents can ask for one and we would set them up and then we would come on out.
Interviewer: What are some of the patients saying about this program that have used it?
Amy: I haven't heard one negative thing yet.
Interviewer: Yeah, okay.
Amy: It's been all awesome. I think parents are overwhelmed, they're excited. They feel like this is something that they wished they could have used with their other kids and now they're excited that it's here for their newborns now. I've heard some parents start with a little hesitancy of having somebody come into their house. They're worried about it not being clean and after you have a baby, the last thing anybody is thinking about is having their house clean. We do not have any care as to what the house itself, what its organization is all about and parents feel really reassured once we get in there that we're not there to judge them on what's around the house, but more to just take care of them and their baby.
Interviewer: And it's really just one of the ways the University of Utah Healthcare is trying to make healthcare a lot more accessible to people instead of the old model where they always have to come to us. We go to them and try to make it more convenient. It's kind of the new way.
Amy: I think University has an interest in getting out to the community and being a part of the community. And this is just one way that we can access our neighbors, our friends, our patients. And it establishes a much better rapport and trust with both sides.
Announcer: thescoperadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Just click on the Facebook icon at thescoperadio.com.
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