Tune in to hear our hosts Alli and Melissa explain what you need to know before your child’s surgery. These 5 tips will set you up to successfully navigate, advocate, and support your child through the unique multifaceted medical experience of surgery. From timing to experiencing anesthesia, we are here to give you the pointers you need to help your child cope.

Other Episodes You May Like

• Two Brains Are Better Than One
• Science Behind the Why
• ACLP Insights: Featuring Bailey Kasten, COO and interim CEO

Important Links

• Medical Mamas Website
• Follow us on Instagram
• Learn more about Child Life at the Association of Child Life Professionals

Join the Community

It's hard to know who to ask, or where to look for help, when your child is navigating a medical experience or trauma. You want to ensure that you are doing everything possible to support their coping.

That’s where we come in! With your support, Medical Mamas can continue to promote pediatric coping by empowering parents with resources to aid in navigating medical experiences and trauma from birth through young adulthood.

Through our podcast and website, we aim to continue providing parents everywhere with the best information so they feel prepared to advocate for and support their children.

When you sign-up for Patreon you will receive exclusive content from Medical Mamas, and help us continue our important work of promoting pediatric coping!

Click here to learn more about starting your subscription today!

We greatly appreciate your support, and keep checking back for the latest resources and episodes!

On this episode, tune in to learn what is child life? How Melissa and Alli discovered the field of child life? And what are their goals for the Medical Mamas podcast. Join us as we reflect on where we started, lay the foundation for our podcast, and share our knowledge and expertise on how to support your children cope and navigate medical experiences and trauma from birth through young adulthood. Get ready to be empowered - you don't want to miss it!

Other Episodes You May Like

• Science Behind the Why
• ACLP Insights: Featuring Bailey Kasten, COO and interim CEO

Important Links

• Medical Mamas Website
• Follow us on Instagram
• Learn more about Child Life at the Association of Child Life Professionals

Join the Community

It's hard to know who to ask, or where to look for help, when your child is navigating a medical experience or trauma. You want to ensure that you are doing everything possible to support their coping.

That’s where we come in! With your support, Medical Mamas can continue to promote pediatric coping by empowering parents with resources to aid in navigating medical experiences and trauma from birth through young adulthood.

Through our podcast and website, we aim to continue providing parents everywhere with the best information so they feel prepared to advocate for and support their children.

When you sign-up for Patreon you will receive exclusive content from Medical Mamas, and help us continue our important work of promoting pediatric coping!

Click here to learn more about starting your subscription today!

We greatly appreciate your support, and keep checking back for the latest resources and episodes!

Have you ever been listening to someone talk and realized you have no idea what they are saying?! The same thing happened to Alli when her husband was attending law school and would come home and share all the things he had learned. Alli knew ZERO law jargon, so it was like she was trying to understand a different language.

This is how our children feel when they are confronted with medical experiences. Because of their age and development, they may not be able to understand what is being said - heck, a lot of adults don’t understand what doctors are saying.

Not only that, but children can also feel scared of the new environment, new people, and especially any potential medical procedures that may be occurring.

At Medical Mamas we are here to help! Listen today as we discuss ways to support your child through ANY medical experience by:

💜Utilizing developmentally appropriate language

💜Going over the sequence of events

💜Describing sensory experiences

💜And developing a coping plan

Research Articles on Procedural Preparation for Children

Hatava, Olsson, & Lagerkranser, 2000

Meeting Children's Psychosocial Needs Across the Health-Care Continuum, Rollins, Bolig, Mahan, 2005

Psychosocial Care of Children in Hospitals, Gaynard et. al, 1998

Zelikovsky, Rodrigue, Gidycz, & Davis, 2000

Wolfer, Gaynard, Goldberger, Laidley, & Thompson, 1988

Wolfer & Visintainer, 1975

Join the Community

It's hard to know who to ask, or where to look for help, when your child is navigating a medical experience or trauma. You want to ensure that you are doing everything possible to support their coping.

That’s where we come in! With your support, Medical Mamas can continue to promote pediatric coping by empowering parents with resources to aid in navigating medical experiences and trauma from birth through young adulthood.

Through our podcast and website, we aim to continue providing parents everywhere with the best information so they feel prepared to advocate for and support their children.

When you sign-up for Patreon you will receive exclusive content from Medical Mamas, and help us continue our important work of promoting pediatric coping!

Click here to learn more about starting your subscription today!

We greatly appreciate your support, and keep checking back for the latest resources and episodes!

Other Episodes You May Like

• Two Brains Are Better Than One
• Science Behind the Why
• ACLP Insights: Featuring Bailey Kasten, COO and interim CEO

Important Links

• Medical Mamas Website 
• Follow us on Instagram
• Learn more about Child Life at the Association of Child Life Professionals

Sharing her expertise with us is Audrey Hunter, founder of Litby, a supplemental reading resource for schools and libraries aimed to help students read, comprehend, and engage with rigorous novels through book clubs.

"The things we want our children to learn, we need to be modeling ourselves."

This is Audrey Hunter's story...

Audrey Hunter is the founder of Litby, a supplement reading resource. She is passionate about helping kids learn to read and enjoy it. She is also a parent herself and tries to foster a love for reading in her own children. Some tips she has for parents include modeling reading behavior, leaning into their children's interests, and using books to help kids process events in their lives.

In this episode, you will learn the following:

1. The benefits of reading for child development

2. How to engage kids with the story while they're reading

3. How to utilize books in a bibliotherapy way to help kids process events in their life

Resources:

Top Books for Resiliency

Medical Mamas Library 

Other episodes you'll enjoy:

Science Behind the Why

ACLP Insights: Featuring Bailey Kasten, COO and interim CEO

We’re Back With A Twist

Connect with us:

@medicalmamasllc

Loved this episode? Subscribe to our Patreon and receive exclusive content from Medical Mamas and be helping us continue our important work of promoting pediatric coping!

If you have kids under the age of 5 this episode is for you! Learn the science behind why kids act the way they do. Join us as we chat with Megan Sheldon, MS, IMH-E, CIMI, an infant and toddler mental health consultant who specializes in helping parents and professionals better understand the behaviors of young ones. 

Thanks so much for listening to Medical Mamas. Make sure you follow us on Instagram @medicalmamasllc. 

Subscribe to our Apple Podcasts and rate and review us if you like us. 

To get show notes go to medicalmamas.org/podcast and you can even sign-up to get show notes emailed right to your inbox, and we'll email you every time there's a new episode!

Self-esteem, teens, and gymnastics. Join us as we talk with Sarah Carlson a competitive gymnastics coach at All Star Gymnastics. We discuss the benefits athletics can have on child development and self-esteem, particularly in the teen years.

Thanks so much for listening to Medical Mamas. Make sure you follow us on Instagram @medicalmamasllc. Subscribe to our apple podcasts and rate and review us if you like us. To get get show notes emailed right to your inbox click here, and we'll email you every time there's a new episode.

Back to school can be a tough transition for kiddos, and parents! Due to the global pandemic and changes in the education system over the past 18 months, the beginning of this school year may bring extra stressors to many children, teachers, and parents. Listen as we chat with early childhood educator and friend, Ashley Chatelain, on common stressors seen at the start of a school year, how this might feel different this year, and how to best support yourself and your kiddos during this transition. Additionally, hear tips that can be applied to supporting kiddos through other life transitions.

@tinyandtimeless - A community of real moms sharing the things we REALLY love to make your life easier. Tips & tricks + exclusive deals!

@busytoddler - One of Ashley's favorite resources. @busytoddler is run by Susie Allison, a K&1 teacher turned SAHM. She shares great content including suggestions for how to talk to kids, as well as amazing activities.

Thanks so much for listening to Medical Mamas. Make sure you follow us on Instagram @medicalmamasllc. Subscribe to our apple podcasts and rate and review us if you like us. To get get show notes emailed right to your inbox click here, and we'll email you every time there's a new episode!

Medical Mamas strives to promote pediatric growth and coping by providing parents resources to aid in navigating acute medical experiences, general wellness, child development, and life transitions from birth through young adulthood. Join Certified Child Life Specialists, Alli and Melissa, as they interview experts in these fields and provide concrete action items for parents to support their children in whatever life offers.