Frustrated with the “harmful” misinformation she was seeing on many mom blogs, Dr. Stephanie Liu created her own source of credible parenting advice.
In Life of Dr. Mom, Liu shares the scientific evidence she’s found on the subjects she wonders about as a parent.
After the birth of her daughter, Madi, in 2016, the Edmonton family physician turned to mom blogs for advice on helping her baby sleep.
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She admits one website scared her away from sleep training, because the writer said the process can cause anxiety and depression later in life. Then Liu read medical literature on the subject.
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“I found out that (claim) was completely untrue,” Liu said.
“There are no studies that actually say that sleep training will cause any of these mood disorders.”
The University of Alberta clinical lecturer says some bloggers are spreading potentially dangerous information about vaccine safety.
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“This is incredibly harmful for the population because some of these mom blogs that are saying (vaccines are unsafe) have huge followings,” Liu said.
“These are really engaging — I would say great — women, but they are propagating misinformation.”
Liu offers tips on everything from sleep training to stomach flu.
She admits fast food play place germs freaked her out too — until she read a study about the importance of exposing kids to bacteria and allergens.
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Becoming a mom has made Liu a more understanding doctor. She says she used to “preach” to her patients about breastfeeding.
“Then I had Madi and I realized breastfeeding is really freaking hard.”
READ MORE: If fed is best, why do I still feel like a failure?
That’s why Liu tries to educate and encourage parents by balancing research with real life.
“I like to think of it as warm advice instead of… cold, hard facts.”
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