Hi! And welcome.
If you’ve found my blog, you are probably a parent or grandparent or even friends with parents and were trying to find the answer to one of the innumerable questions you inevitably have as a parent. I get it. I’ve been there. Heck, I’m still there most days!
As a PhD trained epidemiologist, I really wanted to understand the science behind my choices. But when I looked for the answers, I found a lot of judgement and one-sided answers. And parenting is hard enough without all of that.
So I decided to start my own blog. A place where people could come and learn what the science really says, both for and against different decisions. I love science but I’m the first to admit that almost no issue in science is actually black and white. For every benefit, there are also risks. And it is up to each of us to decide what kind of risk-benefit profile we are willing to work with.
As a bit of background on me, I earned a B.S. in History and Anthropological and Molecular Genetics from the University of Michigan (And am a diehard Michigan Wolverine! Go Blue!). I then went on to earn my master’s and my Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in Epidemiology. I then completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota before coming back to UNC to take a faculty position. As an epidemiologist, I have extensive training in study design and statistical analysis, which gives me just the credentials I need to sort through the scientific literature and make sense of what I find. Sure, a study might say one thing but how was it done? Were the methods valid? What biases do we need to worry about? How much trust do we put in the results? These are some of the questions that epidemiologists ask when reading scientific research articles.
I’m here to use the skills I have to provide you with the resources you need to make decisions about your family. I’ll try to present the evidence as evenly and unbiased as possible. And then I’ll tell you what I did with that information. Not as a way to tell you what you should do. Just as an example as one person’s choices.
One thing I will always remind you though is that, while I hold a doctorate, I am NOT a medical doctor and most specifically, I’m not your child’s pediatrician. So please take my information for what it is – a summary of the scientific literature – and my experience for what it is – just one person’s journey. I’m here to give you the information you need to make your own choices but if you have any concerns over your child, please please please discuss them with your pediatrician. They are your best advocate in your child’s health and development.
And please, keep your comments non-judgmental. I’m not dumb enough to think everyone will lol. I live in the real world. But hey, I can put out the request and hope. My goal here is the very opposite of so called “mom-shaming.” My goal is to educate and create a space where we can all learn to be the best parents for OUR SITUATION and not anyone else’s. In an era where science has become so politicized, my goal is to let the science be the science and take the red and blue out of it, as much as I can.
So welcome and explore. And feel free to submit requests for new topics if you have specific issues you want more information on.
Mandy Seyerle, PhD