Information for Expectant Parents
Congratulations! All of us at Community Care Family Medicine share in your joy and happiness at the news that there will be a new addition to your family. We also understand your nervousness and anxiety and will work with you to ensure a healthy baby.
Whether you are a new or a well-seasoned parent, each pregnancy and childbirth is unique.
Your baby’s first visit
To prepare for your visit, you and the baby’s father may want to write a list of questions you may have. This is often helpful in remembering questions you need answered during the excitement and anticipation of your first visit.
When you make your first visit, our staff will collect birthing records from your child’s hospital stay. For newborns delivered at Bellevue-Ellis hospital, we provide complete hospital care for all infants. If desired, circumcision at the hospital can be arranged.
Feeding your baby
Whether you choose to breast-feed or formula-feed, your baby will thrive from all the nourishment of his or her food.
A newborn should, on average, consume 1 to 2 ounces of food every 2 to 4 hours. We encourage all of our first-time and experienced mothers to consider breast-feeding. Human milk is the optimal form of nutrition for infants.
If you have concerns about breast-feeding, we would be glad to discuss them with you. If desired, a lactation consultation can be arranged after your delivery.
Immunizations
- Pentacel (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, haemophilius meningitis)
- Rotavirus (oral vaccine for diarrhea prevention)
- PCV-13 (enhanced pneumococcal meningitis)
- Kinrix (tetanus, pertussis, diphtheria, polio)
- MMR (measles, mumps, rubella)
- Varivax (chicken pox)
- Menactra (meningococcal meningitis)
- HPV (Gardasil, vaccine against cancer-causing papilloma virus)
All of our office visits include a complete well-child exam. We will provide you with copies of your child’s updated shot record and growth and development graphs at each visit.
Protect your family from meningitis type B
We recommend your young adult receive the optional meningitis type B vaccine, Bexsero, 2 dose series at 0 and 6 months.
Protect your family from pertussis (whooping cough)
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious disease that causes severe coughing and respiratory distress in infants. To prevent the transmission of pertussis from parents, grandparents, or day care providers, we recommend all adults receive a one-time Tdap tetanus-pertussis booster.
It is good for 10 years. Most area hospitals offer Tdap to all mothers after delivery.
Don’t forget to have dad vaccinated.
mycareDOT™ – Patient Portal
Access our Office 24/7 using our patient portal mycareDOT™
We encourage you to enroll in mycareDOT™, powered by FollowMyHealth™, to access your child’s medical information and to connect with our office from anywhere, anytime. This secure system allows you to manage your child’s personal medical records, communicate with our doctors, and make informed decisions about your child’s health.
You can schedule appointments, receive care reminders, message our office, and receive some lab and test results. Your child’s problems, medications, allergies and immunizations are automatically populated into the mycareDOT™ portal from our permanent electronic health record. Learn more about enrolling and how this can health improve your access to our office!