When my daughter, Cambree, who is now fourteen months old, was born, she was a healthy, beautiful 6lb, 8oz baby with a head full of hair and long eyelashes. But at her two-month checkup, her eyes were yellow and her pediatrician believed her liver was swollen. When her labs came back, they were far from […]
Thanks to decades of awareness campaigns, parents are no longer surprised at a well-child check that their babies will be getting vaccines. But often, they are surprised or confused by how many vaccines are given, what diseases they prevent, how immunizations are monitored for safety, and how to make the shots less painful for their […]
When my third child was born, it was a crazy time in my life. (Isn’t it always?) My husband and I had two older boys, ages 4 and 2. Charlie was a sweet baby from day one, healthy and adorable. We were thrilled when we were all home from the hospital so that we could […]
Pregnancy overflows with decision-making. Tests and baby products and nutrition and unsolicited advice are enough to make a pregnant brain swirl in the confusion of it all. It’s no wonder that immunizations–both as a topic and as a healthcare need–are pushed to the side for many pregnant women. But it is National Immunization Awareness Month, […]
National Immunization Awareness Month is the big show in the vaccine world. The idea is that everyone will get conversations started about immunizations just as the kids are about to go back to school, and the conversations will be about getting the whole family vaccinated. Voices for Vaccines has lots of fresh content coming out […]
Kimberly Coffey was 17 years old and days away from high school graduation when she caught what she thought was a case of flu. Days later, her family was saying good-bye. Many families would keep this story to themselves, but Kimberly’s mother, Patti Wukovits, knew that she could do something to stop bacterial meningitis from […]
Crossing the threshold into adulthood is marked by rites of passage: graduations, first jobs, and lowered vaccine uptake. Perhaps getting fewer vaccines isn’t a rite of passage, but ignoring vaccines as a hallmark of preventive health seems to be ubiquitous among adults who adhere gladly to well-child checks and immunization schedules for their children. Just […]
It all began on a warm afternoon in May of 1996. My 6-year-old daughter was swinging on her swing set when she suddenly stopped and, raising a hand to her neck, asked, “Momma, what is this?” I pulled her strawberry blond hair back to reveal a large blister-like bump below her ear lobe. “Does it […]
I remember during my second pregnancy seeing an ad informing me that I could pass along whooping cough to my baby. At the time, I didn’t know what whooping cough was or what I could do about that. Looking back, I’m not even sure what they wanted me to do. Now, years too lot, I […]
Vaccines are literally a life or death situation for people like my father, who battled stage 4 leukemia after being given six weeks to live. He beat the odds and has been in remission since 2009, but now suffers from GVH disease because the bone marrow transplant he received during treatment wasn’t a complete match. […]