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When Your Baby Comes Home: Choosing a Green Pediatrician
by
Alan Greene, M.D.
www.drgreene.com
Article Description:
Knowing what questions to ask can help you find the right
pediatrician for your family. Dr. Alan Greene, author of
Raising Baby Green, provides some questions you may want to ask
to gauge physicians’ thoughts on things green.
Shortly after your labor and delivery, the mixed anxiety and joy of this
life experience will be in your past, and it will be time to look
forward to the future—to the time when your baby will live and grow in
the protective environment that you will create in your home.
As you did when choosing an ob/gyn, you want to find a pediatrician who
is top-notch medically. How much better if he or she is also on the
journey to an environmentally sustainable perspective on pediatrics!
This may be the first time you have selected a pediatrician; if you
already have children, you may have an established relationship with
their pediatrician—or you may have inherited a treasured family doc from
when you were a child. In any case, here are five representative
questions you may want to ask politely to gauge physicians’ thoughts on
things green:
1. What advice do you give to new parents about introducing
solid foods?
If their first suggestion is to begin with processed white rice flour
cereal or processed conventional jarred foods, they may still be working
from a twentieth-century industrial mind-set. To learn more, continue
the conversation by asking for their advice about introducing whole
grains, fresh tastes, or organic foods. Green pediatricians are often
conscious of nutrition and care about establishing the nutritional
habits of today’s babies in ways that are better than those of previous
generations.
2. How do you recommend treating ear infections?
If they say that all ear infections should be treated with antibiotics,
they may be behind the times. The Academy of Pediatrics now teaches
that, in many situations, ear infections will heal better on their own,
without antibiotics (but pain relief should be given for the ear pain).
The first steps toward sustainability that pediatricians often make in
their practices are to reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics.
3. How do you recommend treating eczema in babies?
If their first response is to use steroids or prescription drugs, they
may not yet be thinking green. Often, a better first approach is to
reduce exposure to eczema triggers or to gently moisturize the skin.
Green-oriented physicians are more likely to treat the cause rather than
just the symptoms and will opt for the gentlest treatment possible.
4. What kind of baby shampoo do you recommend?
If they mention a conventional brand, they may not yet be thinking about
sustainable and pure products. If they mention any of a number of
greener options, such as Baby Avalon Organics, Burt’s Bees, or Tom’s of
Maine, that’s a good sign that they are at least aware of a variety of
greener options for common baby products.
5. Do you buy organic foods for your own family?
The answers to these types of questions will help you get a sense of
their own green lifestyle outside the practice of medicine. Often
physicians will start thinking about green issues for their own lives
before they start integrating them into their practices. If they have
made even small steps in this regard, they may be more supportive of
your efforts to raise your baby green.
In addition to conversations with prospective pediatricians, you can
also get some insight into the green potential of a medical practice by
making an office visit simply to observe. What kind of lighting is used?
(Incandescent bulbs are very non-green.) What kinds of cleaners are
used? (A strong scent of bleach or ammonia is the tip-off that green
cleansers are not yet in use.) Are there any babies in the waiting room
who are wearing cloth or hybrid diapers? (This is a good sign that other
parents with environmental concerns have chosen this doctor.)
And from the comfort of your home, you can learn a lot about some
physicians and their practices by looking at their Web sites—many
pediatricians have them now, but not all—and by talking to other
parents.
About
the Author:
Dr. Alan Greene, author of
Raising Baby Green, is a graduate of Princeton University and the
University of California San Francisco. In addition to being the founder
of www.DrGreene.com,
he is the Chief Medical Officer of A.D.A.M., and the Pediatric Expert
for WebMD. He is the Chair Elect of The Organic Center and on the
Advisory Board of Healthy Child Healthy World. Dr. Greene appears
frequently on TV, radio, websites, and in print including appearances on
The Today Show, Fox and Friends, The Wall Street Journal, Parents
Magazine, and US Weekly. Dr. Greene is a practicing pediatrician at
Stanford University's Packard Children's Hospital.
More articles by Dr. Alan Greene:
Back Up
Your Child's Diet
"You know that it's wise to back up your computer’s hard drive; I
recommend backing up your child’s food drive with a daily
multivitamin/mineral supplement. This simple habit could improve your
child’s health and even intelligence." Dr. Alan Greene, Professor of
Pediatrics and author of
Raising Baby Green, explains why he feels so strongly about this.
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