By Doula Jen

After last week’s discussion on parental research, I wanted to offer a spring board as you dive into the world of information.  Again, your gut instincts will always serve you best, but it is often necessary to pad your decisions with evidence.

First, we invite you to peruse our Welcome Baby Care Resource Page.  These are websites and organization with our seal of approval.  In particular, for medical decisions, Dr. Sears is such a great place to start.  The Sears family rarely takes the all or nothing approach but instead presents a balanced, multifaceted perspective and a variety of parenting choices.

Second, who are your like-minded friends?  Who will give you advice only when asked?  What are they reading?  What do they think?  What did they decide?  Choose those fellow mothers who are strictly non-judgmental and who you suspect might think like you in terms of health.

Third—and I mentioned this briefly—be discriminatory when it comes to Internet research.  Avoid message boards, personal mommy blogs, and junk dump sites such as Wikipedia and ask.com…at least for your medical decisions.  Stick with a few trusted resources.