Hi All,
Welcome to 2013! (A little later than we’d hoped but we promise, we’ve been busy!)
It’s already proving to be a HUGE year for RISA with our first conference for health care professionals coming up in April in Brisbane. A massive amount of work is going into it and a big, big thanks needs to go to Naomi, Bec, Bianca, Jess and Chrissy for all the hours that have gone into it so far. We will have four senior paediatric gastroenterologists, a paediatric surgeon, dietician, speech therapist and occupational therapist speaking on causes, management and consequences of GORD in infants and children. It will be a very exciting time with many GPs and nurses walking away with far more information than they had previously. Lets hope it means far fewer mums and bubs being turned away with the diagnosis of “all babies cry”!
You can help! Download our conference invite and take it to your local GP or baby health clinic. Do you know a business who would like access to around 400 medical professionals and might like to take a stall or sponsor part of the event? Show them our sponsorship prospectus at www.reflux.org.au/conference. Or if you can spare a few minutes a day, we’d love people to make a few administrative phone calls for us. Every little bit would help.
Don’t forget, 15-21 April is International Paediatric GORD Awareness month. We’re teaming up with other parent support groups around the world to lift the profile of this very common but massively misunderstood disease in kids. If you are willing to help us raise awareness by letting your local paper know a bit about your journey as a reflux parent, please let us know. Stories are only compelling when there’s someone to tell them – a face to relate to. If you would be prepared to tell your story publicly but locally, please also let us know at info@reflux.org.au.
In the meantime, this month’s issue of the RISA Newsletter brings you a few more parents stories (as usual), an article on GORD and motility issues (ie bottoms and wind), the gorgeous winners of our Christmas photo competition and much more.
Here’s the run down:
- RISA’s conference for Health Care Professionals
- Profile of speakers at our conference
- Constipation, motility disorders and GORD in children
- Paediatric GORD medications and how to use them
- The positive impact of comforting your difficult to settle baby
- Parent stories – Glenda and Natalie’s story
- Parent stories – Tanya and Rachael’s story
- Book review – Poor Eaters by Dr Joel Macht
- Book review – Infant Acid Reflux by Tracy and Mike Davenport
- Indoor activities for rainy days; and
- Winners of our Christmas Photo Competition!
So sit back and enjoy the read. We hope you find it informative, helpful and a bit of a distraction. And we hope this finds you and your little refluxers just that bit better in 2013.
Joanne Matthews
RISA President and
Newsletter Editor
