Carole Kramer Arsenault - The Baby Nurse Bible: Secrets Only a Baby Nurse Can Tell You about Having and Caring for Your Baby

Praise for The Baby Nurse Bible

The Baby Nurse Bible may look like your typical guide to pregnancy and baby care, but its not. Its better, filled with well-researched tips from a professional who is also an experienced mom, tips that you probably have not heard before. A must-have!

Bay State Parent

...............................

The Baby Nurse Bible is chock-full of the kind of practical and helpful information that only an insider like Carole Arsenault would know. This book contains everything a couple needs to prepare for the adventure of labor and birth.

CHRISTIANE NORTHRUP, MD, author of Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom

...............................

The stack of books available on breastfeeding, pregnancy, and postpartum can be overwhelming. Carole Arsenault covers all these topics and then someincluding prenatal exercise and nutrition, choosing a pediatrician, raising a green baby, and more. The Q&A format and highlighted Baby Nurse Tips make this book fun to read and easy to use. Im making The Baby Nurse Bible my number one must-read book for new parents!

TAMARA JESSIMAN, Certified Nurse Midwife, Mount Auburn Hospital

...............................

Birthing and caring for a baby is a transformative experience, and The Baby Nurse Bible helps new families make their way with confidence. Its highly readableand packed with insightful and helpful Q&As, lists, and tips.

JOHANNA MYERS MCCHESNEY, cofounder and CEO of Isis Parenting, Inc.

Secrets Only a Baby Nurse Can Tell You
About Having and Caring for Your Baby

CAROLE KRAMER ARSENAULT, RN, IBCLC

Foreword by William Camann, MD
Director of Obstetric Anesthesiology, Brigham and Womens Hospital

THE BABY NURSE BIBLE: Secrets Only a Baby Nurse Can Tell You About Having and Caring for Your Baby

Copyright Carole Kramer Arsenault, 2011
Foreword copyright William Camann, 2011
Figures 1-1, 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, 8-4, 8-5, and 8-6 copyright Melanie Snow, 2011
Figures 1-2 (ag), 1-3, 4-1, 4-2 (ad), 5-1 (ag), 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, and 9-1 copyright Julie Gratz, 2011

All rights reserved. Except for brief passages quoted in newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or online reviews, no portion of this book may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

The Experiment, LLC
260 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 100016408
www.theexperimentpublishing.com

Neither the author nor the publisher is engaged in rendering professional advice or services to individual readers and their children or relatives. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting a physician. All matters regarding health require medical supervision. Neither the author nor the publishershall be liable or responsible for any loss, injury, or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book. The opinions expressed in this book represent the personal views of the author and not of the publisher.

The Experiments books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for premiums and sales promotions as well as for fundraising or educational use. For details, contact us at .

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and The Experiment was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been capitalized.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010934224
ISBN 978-1-61519-014-0
Ebook ISBN 978-1-61519-138-3

Cover design by Alison Forner
Cover photograph by Kristin Chalmers
Text design by Pauline Neuwirth, Neuwirth & Associates, Inc.

Manufactured in the United States of America
Distributed by Workman Publishing Company
Distributed simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Ltd.
First published January 2011

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

This book is dedicated to my three children, Alex, Cam, and Caroline, and my niece Emmie.

A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.
FOREST E. WITCRAFT

by William Camann, MD

Patients encounter a wide variety of personnel when they go to a hospital or seek medical care. Physicians, nurses, various specialists, technicians, receptionists, security officers, parking attendants, and others will all be part of the experience. Each may lay claim to some particular knowledge or insight about what really goes on in the world of health care. And each indeed does have a particular perspective with which they see the medical world. Opinions vary as to who has the clearest viewbut its my belief that there is no greater vantage point than that of the nurse.

Thus, it gives me great pleasure to write this foreword to The Baby Nurse Bible: Secrets Only a Baby Nurse Can Tell You About Having and Caring for Your Baby. Pregnancy and childbirth is something most parents experience only once or just a few times. The experience can be daunting, challenging, and overwhelming, as new parents are often intimidated by their newborns, and struggle over even the smallest decisions about their care. Yet professionals who work in the maternity environment see new parents on a daily basis. They know the joys, the problems, the concerns, and most importantly, the questions that are asked over and over again by new parents. In todays technology-laden world, new parents are exposed, perhaps even overexposed, to an ever-increasing volume of information from family, friends, acquaintances, books, magazines, websites, social media, and other resources. Moreover, in an environment of such information overload, many of the resources are presented with specific agendas, causing even more confusion. Just who can I trust?! is a common concern among new parents, and, for that matter, all healthcare consumers. And, when all is said and done, it is often nurses who field the majority of questions from patients.

The critical role of nurses in health care is well recognized by many, including physicians. As doctors, we speak with and examine our patients, look at laboratory test results, x-rays, scans, and monitors, and seek out the advice of consultants. Yet any doctor will admit that there is no more valuable information than the nurses answer to a simple question such as How is the patient doing today?

I can think of no more uniquely qualified nurse than Carole Arsenault to help guide first-time parents through the information overload that defines new parenthood. I know Carole from almost two decades of working as colleagues in the labor and delivery unit at Bostons Brigham & Womens Hospital, one of the busiest maternity hospitals in the country. In addition to her extensive hands-on experience with women giving birth, Carole also has years of experience as the founder of Boston Baby Nurses, a Boston-area agency that helps parents though all aspects of preparing and caring for their newborns, providing education, lactation support, home care, and more. Carole and her team of skilled, seasoned nurses have seen it all, and