Dear Editor,

As a mother and family physician, I have enjoyed reading your newspaper and learning about alternative and complementary modalities for my pregnant and postpartum patients. However, I was concerned when I read the fall 2012 article on homeopathy, entitled "Planning for your BabyMoon." The second page of the article listed postpartum depression as the first reason "to seek out a professional homeopath"

Postpartum depression is serious medical condition (sic), with potentially devastating consequences for mother and baby if not identified and treated. Concerns about depression should always be discussed with the woman's primary care provider.

When I identify a woman with postpartum depression, I try to incorporate different modalities in her treatment plan including exercise, therapy and medication when necessary. I am happy to support a woman if she chooses to take homeopathic medicine as part of her overall treatment. To suggest that she should be seen solely by a homeopath or other alternative care provider is inappropriate. We are a team - and best support women and families when we work together.

Dr. Jacqueline Poitras, MD, CCFP

Dear Dr. Poitras,

Thank you for your readership, as well as your letter. All of us at From Belly to Baby, including those health care professionals who submit articles for consideration, would recognize that post partum depression is a serious condition. As such, each of us would be certain to refer our patients and clients to their Family Physician for appropriate support, should their care be outside of our respective scopes of practice. Our columnist did not mean to imply that a woman should solely seek out the care of a homeopath if struggling with post partum depression, but rather that seeing a homeopath was an option that a woman could consider. As Homeopathy approaches being a regulated health care profession under the RHPA in Ontario, all Homeopaths would be aware of the importance of referring their clients as indicated back to their primary care providers.

Our Mission at From Belly to Baby is to help pregnant women, women with young families, and those that care for these women to learn about resources that they may not be fully aware of in Ottawa and the surrounding areas. We are clear in our disclaimer that our readers need to consult with their primary care providers as appropriate.

We are also constantly looking for writers from the Conventional Medical World to contribute to our publication, so that we can offer a well rounded resource to our readers.

Best of Health to You,

Colleen McQuarrie ND Editor in Chief

Dear Editor,

I was a little alarmed on reading a recent article by you entitled Vaccination - Making Informed Decisions that appeared in the Winter 2012 edition of a small newspaper entitled From Belly to Baby. 

The article included a lot of information that ostensibly allows parents to decide what to do about vaccinating (or not) their children. Left out of the article was the basic point that by vaccinating their children parents reduce the likelihood that other children and other people will get any of a number of diseases that can be reduced in number and severity by mass vaccination.

As the percentage of people in any given population complies with vaccination programs, the number of people who get any given disease for which there is a vaccine is reduced.

Thus, when you have your child vaccinated, you help everyone around you. Small pox, for instance, has been pretty much eradicated through vaccination. Note, however that in Pakistan and some other places vaccination campaigns against Polio are leading to a resurgence of the disease.

Similarly, annual flu shots do much to reduce the prevalence of influenza. Each of us has a duty to help with the general effort for vaccination and immunization. Your article fails to even mention this, and thus does a great disservice to the world at large.

Please, if you write similar articles in the future, put some note on this collective responsibility for all of us to comply with these public health measures.

Regards,

Michael Robinson

Dear Mr. Robinson,

Thank you for your letter. Vaccination from a public health policy perspective is an important consideration as you have noted in your letter. Public health policy, however, is just one parameter for parents and our community to consider when learning about vaccinations. In her article, Naturopathic Doctor Clare Sullivan was focussed on vaccines from an individual health perspective, not that of herd immunity, and the concept of herd immunity was not touched on because of that.

Immunizations as a means to decrease the incidence of disease within populations is an important parameter for consideration, and could potentially form the basis of a future article, so thank you again.

Regards,

Colleen McQuarrie ND, Editor in Chief