All Posts

Every day, in hospitals and birthing centers across Canada and around the world, newborns undergo one of the most remarkable journeys in human experience. They enter a world that demands their bodies to begin functioning in completely new ways within minutes. Among the many changes that unfold in those earliest days, none is more immediately visible than the appearance of a yellow tint across the skin and eyes of a newborn infant. The condition, known as neonatal jaundice, is

Every heartbeat tells a story, and for thousands of newborns in Canada, that story begins with a structural flaw too small to see yet significant enough to reshape a life. The heart is among the first organs to develop in the womb, and even minor disruptions during its formation can carry lasting consequences. Among the most critical, but least publicly recognized, of these disruptions are abnormalities affecting the heart’s valves. To understand what goes wrong in conditions

A septal defect describes a congenital condition where an infant is born with a hole in the septum of the heart, the part that separates the two chambers from one another (Boston’s Children Hospital). From such a state, there are two types of defects that emerge: Ventricular Septal Defects (VSDs) and Atrial Septal Defects (ASDs). Ventricular Septal Defects (VSDs) refer to a hole in the part of the septum that divides the lower chambers of the heart, called ventricles. Four di

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the most common type of congenital condition affecting newborns and play a significant role in infant health worldwide. CHDs are structural differences in the heart that are present at birth and can often affect blood flow through the body. These differences may involve the heart walls, heart valves (structures that open and close to control blood movement), or blood vessels such as arteries that carry blood away from the heart and veins th

The first moments after birth are a critical window for supporting a newborn’s health and development. Skin-to-skin contact refers to placing a newborn directly on a parent’s bare chest immediately or shortly after birth, allowing continuous physical closeness and shared warmth. The simple practice supports the newborn’s transition to life outside the womb by helping regulate body temperature, heart rate, and breathing, which are key signs of physical stability (Durmaz et al.