Child Health

Four Hands: Mother, Baby, Father, Doctor.

Shifting perspectives: A personal story of maternal health and outcomes

Jessie Nelson

“I stepped into the all-familiar Michigan Medicine hospital. This time, however, my perspective was more than a little bit different. I had wandered these halls just weeks prior—not as a patient, but as a medical student. Now, I entered as an expectant mother.”

Childhood photo of the author sitting at table eating a sandwich.

The Smallest in the Class

Hailey Jurgens

“Growing up, I was always the smallest child in the class. Not only was I short, but I was also thin, sometimes surprisingly so. Doctors were always scaring my parents by telling them that I was falling behind the “normal” growth chart and encouraging them to make me eat more.”

An infant in a high-chair opens his mouth wide as he eats food.

To feed or not to feed? Food allergy prevention in infants

By Kaitlyn Palao

Food allergies are common, and can be life-threatening. When introducing new foods to infants, many believed that delaying the exposure of certain foods may protect infants from allergic reactions, but more recent research points to the opposite.

Water trickles out of the end of a rusty pipe

Lead exposure may alter the body's response to stress

Chris Giang and Olivia M. Halabicky, PhD, RN

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan garnered national attention, but there are thousands of cities in the US with even higher levels of lead poisoning. Despite knowing lead is harmful, we still don’t know how lead causes such harmful health outcomes. Identifying potential biological pathways is key for developing interventions to mitigate health risk.