Make Calm, Confident, and Competent Decisions about Your Child’s Health with Dr. Elana Roumell of Doctor Mom
Show Notes:
[1:47] Our Reviewer of the Week, Kirstellison, "I just had my third baby a few months ago, and I wish I would have known about this class and podcast for my other two. I never felt more prepared going into birth and even though things didn’t go exactly how I wanted, I was well informed and able to make decisions for my self and able to have a natural birth in a hospital. This podcast has been so great but the class goes into so much more detail and I highly recommend taking it if you haven’t already! I can’t thank you guys enough."
[2:36] Our guest is Dr. Elana Roumell, a Pediatric Naturopathic Doctor and mother of 3, with a mission to teach moms how to safely be a “Doctor Mom!” She loves to teach moms how to transform their fear, panic, and overwhelm when their child gets sick into feeling calm, competent, confident, and well-equipped with the right tools to prevent illness and treat it wisely! She is also the co-host of the popular podcast, The “Doctor Mom” podcast. Her intention is to empower moms with knowledge so they are well-informed to make the best decisions for the health of themselves and their children.
[7:41] Stephanie and Dr. Elana talk about life changes, homeschooling, and kids. Dr. Elana also shares how she became a naturopathic doctor and how the sudden passing of her brother as a child really became the catalyst for her studying different forms of medicine and holistic living.
[13:45] How can moms choose a pediatric doctor for themselves? Dr. Elana highly encourages moms to interview during pregnancy so that when you have your baby, you've got that connection and you're ready to go. When she says "interview," she means it seriously. If you're not aligned with your pediatrician, it is such a huge stress on the parent.
In the first year of your baby's life, you're seeing that doctor at least six times for well checks. Each time, vaccines are going to come up. You're talking about six different appointments where you're going to have these conversations, and you want to just have total alignment with that person.
[17:10] When establishing care with a pediatrician, Dr. Elana shares different questions that will help you not feel bullied at your pediatrician's office. When asking these questions, you're coming with confidence, education, and solutions.
- When speaking about a delayed vaccine schedule, ask the doctor "How do you feel about that?"
- When asking about single shots versus combination shots, ask the doctor and say, "How do you feel about me sharing a proposed schedule to make that work?"
- When speaking about specific brands of vaccines, ask the doctor "How do you feel about me requesting preferred brands?"
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"Are you my provider? Or every time I come here, am I seeing a nurse practitioner or am I seeing a different doctor? Because I like you, and I want you to be the caretaker for my child."
Dr. Elana gives an idea of the language that you use with doctors and coming in to the interview with confidence and knowing that you've done research and you have a plan as it goes a much longer way with doctors.
[23:01] For those who feel stuck when interviewing, if you are in a traditional insurance plan, whether it's a PPO or an HMO, and you feel very limited, Dr. Elana's recommendation is maybe consider a health share plan. A health share plan lets you work with any provider, whether it's a naturopathic doctor, a medical doctor, a homeopath, a nutritionist.
Dr. Elana says, "What I do hate to see though, is so many families just never go to see a pediatrician because they don't feel aligned with their philosophies. They don't feel like they can talk to them. They feel bullied. And this is where I get a little bit concerned that. In a medical emergency, we're missing an opportunity in a window for the care that we need, because I do believe medical doctors are excellent with emergency medicine and with the catastrophic type of illnesses."
[26:03] When interviewing pediatricians, remember, that this is the doctor who's touching your child, who's giving you recommendations, who's loving on your child, and who hopefully will grow old with your child. You're establishing a relationship. If you don't feel like you love that person, please keep on moving forward.
[30:26] What does a naturopathic doctor do? A naturopathic doctor is licensed physician, just like a pediatrician or a family doctor would be. They can order labs and prescribe drugs. Their focus is natural medicine and getting to the root cause of illness. Functional medicine has been now a term that people have been more and more aware of. They are functional medicine providers, naturopathic medicine and functional medicine is pretty much the same thing, but they have just extensive training.
[33:41] Dr. Elana talks about homeopathy and how her aim is to teach her Doctor Moms is it's something so safe and gentle that you can't really like mess it up. If you get the wrong remedy, nothing negative is going to happen to your child. If you get the right remedy and you see them really react to it, it's so beautiful and amazing.
[41:50] Dr. Elana talks about when to give Tylenol and when not to give Tylenol (especially after giving a vaccine if you choose to do so). She also talks about Ibuprofen.
[42:15] Dr. Elana shares her detoxing recommendations after vaccines for kids. The immune system needs the most nourishment, and in order to have an intelligent response to these vaccines, the body needs to be detoxed and given the nourishment it needs. She also shares her two programs for handling illness at home and taking charge of your child's health.
- Doctor Mom Membership - access to a (growing) online medical library so you can make confident decisions about your family’s health and well-being without panic rushing to the doctor’s office
[46:54] Dr. Elana partnered with Dr. Erica Calhoun and created a video called 7 Secrets to Making Confident Vaccine Choices For Your Child, whether you decide to give vaccines to your child or not give vaccines to your child, it's just education so you feel empowered and informed with your decision.
[48:42] Where to find Dr. Elana Roumell:
To Leave a Review ⭐️
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- Click the stars!
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ALL the best,
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