by Cara Gardner

One of the hardest decisions that teens and their parents have to make regarding depression is whether anti-depressants will help dissolve their misery. First, it's important to discern the difference between normal bouts of adolescent angst as opposed to extended episodes of despair. When is the sullen, morose attitude just part of growing up, and when is it a warning sign of something deeper and darker? More

by Pia K. Hansen

On a quiet Monday evening last month, a two-year-old boy died in a bedroom in his own home in north Spokane County. He wasn't playing with a gun or poking a fork into an electrical outlet, and he wasn't without supervision. His teenage sister was watching him, but she wasn't feeling well and it was getting late. She fell asleep while watching TV, and when she woke up a couple of hours later, the boy was dead. The Sheriff's report says the boy accidentally hung himself while he was playing with a strap, similar to a purse strap, that was dangling from a hook in a bedroom. More

by Ann M. Colford

An epidemic threatens the health of American children, and yet we've heard little about it. The prevalence of this medical condition has more than doubled among adolescents and nearly quadrupled among children ages six to 11 in the last 30 years, placing children at risk for a lifetime of chronic health problems. If an infectious disease spread at this rate, the headlines and sound bites would fill the news. What is this insidious health risk?More

by Cara Gardner

Emergency contraceptives, or morning-after pills, can prevent pregnancy if taken within 120 hours after unprotected sex. The pills are a concentrated form of birth control, and until recently contained high doses of estrogen. Studies have now shown that another hormone, levonorgestrel, is just as effective and produces none of the negative side effects of estrogen. Levonorgestrel is now used in the morning-after pill called Plan B. Research has proved that Plan B is as effective as other emergency contraceptive pills. More

by Cara Gardner

Breast-feeding is the healthiest way to nourish your baby. Yet for reasons varying from health concerns to convenience, or the simple fact that they have to return to work, many mothers consider formula feeding more convenient. No matter how a mother feeds her baby, the main concern is to make sure the baby stays healthy and grows at an appropriate rate.More

by Ann M. Colford

To immunize or not to immunize? A growing number of parents are questioning what used to be the conventional wisdom: Get as many shots as you can — they're good for you. With recommended vaccines at birth, and at two, four and six months of age, this is a question that must be answered early in a child's life.More

by Cara Gardner

Newborns are completely dependent upon others to stay healthy, and parents as well as caregivers must have a very good understanding of an infant's needs. First-time parents often worry about many little things, and it's important that they never hesitate to contact their health care provider with any questions they may have. Here is a short list of tips gleaned from the staff at Deaconess Medical Center's Mother and Baby Unit.More

by Pia K. Hansen
Food fads and trends come and go just like fashion. One year, carbohydrates are bad. Then it's protein. Next it's meat, or butter, or margarine. And when it comes to what you put on your children's plates, there are even more myths and fads to go around.

by Juliet Sinisterra
As a mother of two young children, I have always believed in the importance of good nutrition. During both pregnancies, I monitored what I ate and included adequate amounts of protein and whole foods in my diet. Recognizing that good nutrition starts at birth, I breast-fed both my children well into their toddler years, and I tried to cook from scratch regularly with whole foods. This was my approach to good nutrition, and it seemed to work well for our family — until we realized that our son was dealing with a chronic illness.

by Pia K. Hansen

The first day of school may seem like it's a year away, but it will be here before you know it. Those with kids already in school know the dizzying drill of buying new crayons (64-packs), pencils (standard yellow) and notebooks (lined, three subjects), backpacks and new sneakers, Kleenex, water bottles and glue (Elmer's, clear). And don't forget: if you are not signed up for school yet, the school district would very much like to hear from you — now.More

by Ann M. Colford

In Liberia's ongoing civil war, military commanders on both sides prize their youngest soldiers, often under 10 years of age, for their brutality and utter fearlessness in battle. The Liberian Educational Achievement Foundation documents atrocities including rape, torture, and even cannibalism committed by child soldiers, and a UN report quoted a commander who said, "They can fight more than we the big people. It [is] hard for them to just retreat."More

by Ann M. Colford
For those expecting parents who decide to go drug-free during childbirth, there are many options for pain relief and coping.

by Ann M. Colford

Anyone who has ever had or witnessed an asthma attack is unlikely to forget it, especially if the victim is a child. The asthmatic victim wheezes and struggles to breathe through blocked and constricted airways. Panic may set in as breathing becomes more and more difficult. Severe attacks can lead to loss of consciousness and even death. Watching a child fight for air is one of the scariest scenarios any parent can face — and an increasing number of parents now face that situation every day.More

by Pia K. Hansen

Sometimes an uncomfortable silence in the ultrasound examination room is the first indication that something isn't quite right. Sometimes a blood test comes back without a clear result, requiring more testing to be done. And sometimes — well, sometimes lightning just strikes in the delivery room when a baby is born with a disability.More

by Ann M. Colford

Back when I was child, I would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night wheezing and gasping for breath. My mother would wrap me in blankets and hustle me into the bathroom, where she'd turn on the hot shower full blast so I could breathe in the steam. After a while, my lungs would open up a bit, and I'd be trundled off to bed again with a deep barking cough. It was just another case of the croup, Mom always said, but for some reason I faced these bouts far more often than my friends and cousins did. More

by Pia K. Hansen
Every pregnancy is amazing, miraculous and incredible. Just think about it: a new human being is taking shape inside a woman's body, and it only takes nine months.

by Pia K. Hansen
At the end of the Thanksgiving weekend in 1992, I woke up with contractions. It was 4 am, and I was facing my first labor with a mix of anxiety and excitement. A few hours later, my husband and I headed for the Maryland hospital we had selected, hitting the absolute height of rush hour traffic on the famous Washington D.C. beltway. My contractions were coming strongly and frequently as we moved at a snail's pace, bumper to bumper with all the other commuters. The guy in the car next to ours was working his cell phone. I started to wonder what it would be like to deliver a baby in the front seat of a Ford Escort.

by Pia K. Hansen

The thing that only happens to other people happened to Creta Kunz on a dark November night six years ago. That's when the police knocked on her door and told her that her son Philip was dead. She couldn't believe it. Perhaps there was a mistake? No, there was no mistake. Was it all just a very bad dream? He was at the house just yesterday — how could he be dead? Suicide, said the officer: He killed himself. Right there, the earth stopped turning. When the planet picked up speed again a few minutes later, Kunz felt more lost than she'd ever felt in her entire life. And she couldn't imagine how she would live through the overwhelming feelings of guilt, sadness, grief and powerlessness. More

by Ann M. Colford

Remember PE class? Unless you were one of the top athletes in the class, your memories are not likely to be pleasant ones. In Spokane Public Schools, teachers and administrators are trying to change the image of physical education classes and lay the foundation for lifelong health and fitness.More

by Ann M. Colford

Kids love toys, and adults love giving toys to kids. But toys don't always love kids. The federal Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) oversees the safety of toys available in the U.S. and regulates more than 15,000 consumer products, including the power to recall toys deemed a risk to children's health. Toys sold in the U.S. must comply with the 1994 Child Safety Protection Act and adhere to the toy safety standards of the ASTM International, formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials.More

by Mike Corrigan

The Hutton Settlement is tucked up against the gentle hills northeast of the Argonne Library and just north of the Spokane River. If you've ever driven this stretch of Upriver Drive, you've no doubt seen it — and maybe wondered just what it was. The name itself is enigmatic and conjures up images of crumbling 18th-century frontier outposts. But one glance at the community's handsome, sturdy brick buildings and lovely, well-kept grounds will instantly dispel that notion. The warren of a cloistered religious sect, perhaps? A quick trip up the welcoming access road and through the beautiful and neatly ordered campus reveals something else entirely. Even with no one around to guide you, all your questions are at least partially answered by the vibe of this place, which resonates with a sense of history, hospitality and purpose. More

by Ann M. Colford

For any parent, a sick or injured child causes worry and stress. When it's 4 o'clock in the morning and the Tylenol has worn off and your child is showing symptoms you've never seen before, parental stress goes off the charts. The doctor's office doesn't open for several hours, there's no one around to watch the other children and your judgment is clouded by nerves and lack of sleep. If only there were someone to talk to, you think, everything would be OK.More