New Parent FAQs
Q: HOW SOON AFTER MY BABY IS BORN DO I NEED TO SCHEDULE THEIR FIRST APPOINTMENT?
A: You should call our office to schedule the baby’s first appointment within the first 24 hours after the baby is born. The best way to ensure we have an appointment available for your baby is to call within this timeframe. It’s a good idea to task someone on your care team with this, as you will likely not be thinking about making phone calls at that time.
Q: HOW SOON SHOULD MY BABY BE SEEN AFTER THEY’RE BORN?
A: Your newborn should be seen in our office within their first 7 days of life. If there is a specific issue such as jaundice, constipation, or lactation issues, they may need to be seen sooner.
Q: WHAT DO I DO IF MY CHILD NEEDS MEDICAL ATTENTION AFTER HOURS?
A: Go to our Contact Us page for our after hours number and instructions.
Q: WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND FOR VITAMIN K ADMINISTRATION?
A: There are benefits and risks to both injectable and oral vitamin K. Have whatever you might give your child there and ready at the time of the birth, as it’s better to have and not need. Even if you decide to use oral vitamin K, factors may occur during birth that could make the injection more preferred. Injectable vitamin K will be provided (you can request preservative-free vitamin K in advance), and oral vitamin K can be purchased.
Oral vitamin K is to be administered by you every week for 12 weeks. It’s best to put it on your calendar and set reminders on your phone in order to not forget and provide your baby with full coverage against vitamin K deficiency.
The injection is administered one time by the nurse or midwife. It’s best to breastfeed or perform skin to skin during administration, rather than in a nursery where your baby might be cold and screaming without you to console them. (Psychologists are starting to think that what a baby feels in the first 24 hours affects how they feel about pain for the rest of their life.) Though rare, the injection can cause death.
Every child is biologically different, and providers do their best to stay informed on vitamin K deficiency. The safest route is to know the symptoms of vitamin K deficiency so that, no matter if they received vitamin K or not, or which form they were administered, you know if and when to get help. Symptoms include failure to thrive, warning bleeds (like bloody noses), apnea (temporary cessation of breathing, especially during sleep), raised lump on head and shock-like syndrome. Bleeding can occur from the cord site, nose, mouth, penis, needle prick sites, and rectum. Early onset of vitamin K deficiency occurs within 24 hours of birth. Classic onset occurs within 2-7 days of birth, and late onset occurs within 2 weeks to 6 months of birth. In the case of head trauma or suspected brain bleed, it is important for newborns to be assessed by a medical professional, whether they’ve received vitamin K or not.
We do not carry any form of Vitamin K here at Hopewell Family Care, neither oral or injectable.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO VACCINES?
A: We support parents’ choice for vaccine administration, including a delayed or no schedule. We have patients on every kind of schedule. Our nurse practitioner will inform you of the risks of both contracting the disease and receiving the vaccine, and give you tools to make your own decision. We will inform you which vaccine-preventable diseases we are seeing in the area. Regardless of what you decide to do, we will give your our vaccine immune system support protocol, which can help your child get through the detoxing phase of receiving a vaccine the best they can, and/or give their immune system the best chance at fighting off disease. We will review as much as you’d like at period wellness exams, and act as a sounding board for you, without telling you what to do.
For more information on this approach, see our blog on vaccines. Also check out Dr. Paul Thomas’ book, The Vaccine Friendly Plan.
We do not carry vaccines at this time.
Q: WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO ANTIBIOTIC USE?
A: Our nurse practitioners prescribe antibiotics when necessary, but not when unnecessary. For example, most ear infections are self-resolving. A typical care plan for an ear infection includes an alternative protocol (such as administering garlic oil and colloidal silver) and chiropractic care, then a recheck of the ears after 5 days to see if it’s resolved. Still situations vary, and the care plan is always a discussion between you as parents and our practitioner. While sometimes it can be best to watch and wait, there are instances, like if your family is about to go out of town or travel on an airplane, where antibiotics may be recommended. Also, if after 10 days the ear infection isn’t resolving on its own, antibiotics may be necessary.
We take this approach to most everything we see: look at the patient (well or sick), diagnose, give you as the patient/parent options, and follow-up to see how the care plan is working/not working. Our visits are not rushed.
Q: HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BREASTFEEDING?
A: We are SO pro-breastfeeding. If you want to breastfeed and find yourself struggling, we have excellent resources to help you have a really good breastfeeding relationship with your baby. Do not hesitate to share your breastfeeding challenges. There is so much troubleshooting that can be done, and we can help you. However, there are other options for feeding your baby, and we can help determine which is the best fit for you.
Q: WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I CHOOSE HFC FOR MY CHILD’S PEDIATRIC CARE?
A: As soon as you decide to go with us, call our office so we can make your baby a chart and be looking out for their arrival. You will fill out the initial paperwork when you come to the first appointment.
Q: IF I NEED TO RESCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT, HOW DO I DO THAT?
A: See our office policy for cancellation and “no-show” protocol.
Q: DO YOU TAKE SELF-PAY PATIENTS?
A: Yes. See our office policy for details.
Q: WHICH TYPES OF INSURANCE DO YOU TAKE?
A: Go to our page on accepted insurance for a complete list.
Q: WHO DOES YOUR STAFF CONSIST OF?
A: Our Primary Care Providers (PCP) include a team of Board Certified Nurse Practitioners. They are qualified as a Medical Doctor, and will be your child’s pediatricians. They have a supervising physician that does routine site visits, but you won’t see them. We have an adept team of Medical Assistants who are all well versed in the integrative care model, are great with children, and will be of support to you as you determine when to bring your child in, etc. You will also interact with our Medical Schedulers on the phone and upon signing in and out of your visits.
Q: WHAT ARE YOUR OFFICE HOURS?
A: Go to our Contact Us page for office hours.
Q: HOW OFTEN DO I NEED TO COME FOR WELLNESS EXAMS?
A: The increments which you’re expected to attend wellness exams are listed at the top of our office policy. These visits are our window into your child. They allow us to learn what your child’s baseline health is so that when they come in sick we can make the best assessment. Wellness visits also allow for you to learn how we handle things and develop a level of trust with us.