As new parents, it’s natural to be hyper-aware of every little sound, movement, or behavior your baby exhibits. Babies communicate primarily through crying, body language, and subtle cues, making it challenging to distinguish between normal fussiness and signs of a serious health concern. Understanding when to seek medical attention can be critical in ensuring your child’s well-being. This article will walk you through the most important signs that something is not right with your baby and when to see a healthcare provider.

Parents are usually quick to recognize when something is not right with their child, but distinguishing between minor distress and a serious illness takes attention to important behavioral and physical changes. The most important sign of a baby's health is their normal activity and mood. If your baby is active, feeding properly, and responsive to their environment, they are probably not severely ill. If they seem exceptionally irritable, lethargic, or display physical signs, it is necessary to look into it further.

Fever in Infants

Fever is one of the most frequent but important signs to watch for in newborns. A temperature above 38°C (100.4°F) in an infant under three months is serious and requires immediate medical care. In contrast to older kids, babies might not have other symptoms, so fever is their sole indicator of infection. If your baby has a fever, don't try home treatments—get a doctor's opinion right away.

Is Your Baby Behaving Differently?

Behavioral changes in your baby may reflect an underlying problem. Some red flags are:

Excessive fussing: A baby who cries excessively and can't be comforted might be in pain or discomfort.

Lethargy and reduction in activity: A baby who is too sleepy, hard to rouse, or not interested in the world around them might be ill.

Unusual quietness: If your active baby is unusually inactive or unresponsive, it can be a cause for concern.

While there are normal variations in behavior, persistent changes need to be followed up with a pediatrician.

Low Energy Levels

A listless or sleepy baby might not be alarming at first, but excessive sleepiness can be a sign of a health problem. Indications of concerning fatigue are:

• Sleeping more than usual and being difficult to wake up
• Being lethargic when awake
• Displaying little interest in play or feeding

If your baby is unusually lethargic or unresponsive, a doctor should examine them.

Fussiness

Babies cry for all sorts of reasons -- hunger, discomfort, exhaustion, to name a few. Excessive crying that continues for hours and cannot be comforted may signal:

• Gas or colic
• Ear infections
• Viral or bacterial infections
• Abdominal pain
• General distress

If your baby's fussiness is also accompanied by the trembling, jitteriness, or other atypical physical symptoms, medical consultation is advised.

When to Get Medical Attention?

Trust your instincts—if something feels wrong, don't delay in seeking a doctor. Your baby needs immediate medical attention if:

• Is less than three months and has a fever
• Has a fever that lasts for longer than two days
• Is refusing food and fluids and eating less than half of what they usually eat
• Isn't urinating every six hours
• Looks pale, flushed, or has an unusual color
• Is having trouble breathing
• Has a swollen joint or won't move an arm or leg

It's always best to stick to the side of caution and consult a professional if unsure.

How to Check Your Baby's Temperature?

Getting your baby's temperature correctly is important in deciding if they have a fever. Trustworthy thermometer choices are:

• Digital or mercury thermometers (under the tongue or in the armpit for children over four years of age)
• Digital ear thermometers (for children over three months old)
• Do not use forehead thermometers, plastic tapes, or infrared scans, as they are not accurate.

Taking care of a baby is a huge responsibility, and knowing when to approach a doctor can be the difference in their well-being. If your baby is acting strangely, has a fever that doesn't go away, or shows any other concerning symptoms, see a doctor right away. As a parent, your instincts are strong when unsure, trust them and put your baby first.

Maternal vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy can be effective against severe disease and hospitalization from the SARS-CoV-2 virus in babies, according to a large study.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, revealed that COVID vaccination during pregnancy can protect the children against hospitalization for COVID during the first six months of life.

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Amid continuing COVID cases, babies under six months old continue to have one of the highest rates of hospitalization — one in five — due to the COVID virus in the US, as per a 2024 study.

As currently no vaccines against COVID are available for neonates and babies, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends maternal vaccination during pregnancy.

Maternal COVID Vaccination Prevented Other Infections

The retrospective study included 146,031 infants born in Norway between March 2021 and December 2023. Of these, 37, 013 (25 percent) were exposed to COVID-19 vaccination in utero.

The findings showed that babies exposed to the vaccine before birth were no more likely to visit the hospital for overall infections (of any kind) than those whose mothers did not get vaccinated in pregnancy.

However, infants whose mothers were vaccinated were about half as likely to visit the hospital specifically for COVID in their first two months of life compared to babies not exposed to the vaccine in utero.

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Among 3 to 5-month-old babies, the risk of a hospital visit for COVID was 24 percent lower in those exposed to the vaccine, but the vaccine's protection against COVID wore off by the time infants were older than 6 months.

Importantly, the mothers' vaccine also prevented the risk of other infections in children.

"There is often an increased risk for a subsequent infection after a viral infection, such as an increased risk of pneumonia after influenza infection, so we wanted to study whether protection against COVID-19 could influence the risk of other infections as well," said lead author Dr. Helena Niemi Eide, from the University of Oslo in Norway, the NPR reported.

"But we found that COVID vaccination in pregnancy protected the infant against COVID and had no apparent effect on other infections," Eide added.

Maternal Vaccine Recommendation in the US

Last week, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reiterated its recommendation for COVID vaccination during pregnancy.

Despite changes in federal vaccine recommendations due to the US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine stance, the ACOG urged COVID vaccination for

• people who are pregnant,
• recently pregnant,
• considering pregnancy,
• lactating.

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"Accumulated safety data from millions of administered doses show no increased risk of adverse maternal, fetal, or neonatal outcomes associated with COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy,” the ACOG said.

When 36-year-old mom Angela Sanford, from Fort Mill, SC, went for an appointment for a Pap smear five years after she had her first child in 2008, her nurse midwife, who she has never seen before asked her a question she did not expect. "Who stitched you up after your first birth?"

Speaking to Healthline, Sanford shared that she just started crying when the nurse said, "This is not right." Sanford said that this was the first time she ever heard the term 'husband stitch'. Sanford was told that her stich was "too tight" by the hospitalist who managed her after her first delivery.

Also Read: US CDC Warns Of New Immune-Evasive COVID Variant In 23 Countries

“He gave you what some people call a husband stitch,” Sanford recalled the midwife telling her.

“I couldn’t connect in my mind why it would be called that. My midwife said, ‘They think that some men find it more pleasurable,’” she recalled. “My husband has been worried about me and fearful of hurting me. He would never have asked for this.”

A 'Husband Stich' - What Is It?

During vaginal delivery, a woman undergoes perineal tears or vaginal lacerations which means tears between the vaginal opening and anus. This causes pain, and requires stitches for grades two and higher. It also takes 4 to 6 weeks to heal. Women can experience from first to fourth degree tears.

Sometimes, a surgical incision is made in the perineum during childbirth to enlarge the vaginal opening, this is called an episiotomy. However, it is not medically necessary or a routine procedure, unless it is a case of emergency.

Stiches are required in such cases that dissolves on its own. However, a 'husband stitch', also known as "daddy stitch" is an unethical practice where an extra stitch is given during the repair process that 'tightens the vagina' to increase sexual pleasure for a male partner. While it is considered a medical malpractice, it is still done to women after vaginal delivery.

Many women face difficulty after the extra stich is given to them. In Sanford's case, she felt "excruciating" pain during sex afterwards.

Read: Romanticization And The Silent Dismissal Of Women’s Pain

When Objectifying Women's Bodies Is Made A Medical Practice

Stephanie Tillman, CNM, a certified nurse midwife at the University of Illinois at Chicago and blogger at The Feminist Midwife told Healthline: “The fact that there is even a practice called the husband stitch is a perfect example of the intersection of the objectification of women’s bodies and healthcare. As much as we try to remove the sexualization of women from appropriate obstetric care, of course the patriarchy is going to find its way in there."

Harkins, 37, said that she "kind of" laughed it off when an "old, crusty Army doctor" overstitched her so she could give her husband more pleasure. In many cases, doctors do it as a routine practice without even being told by anyone. “I couldn’t even process [it], but I kind of laughed, like what else do you do when someone says that? I had just had a baby. I didn’t think much about it because the whole birth experience was so traumatizing, but now that I think about it differently, the implications of that are just crazy.”

Episiotomy Is An Excuse For 'Husband Stitch'

Dr Robert Barbieri, chair of obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, told the Huffington Post that doctors were taught in the 50s and 60s that "routine episiotomy was good for women".

“What they thought is that if they did a routine episiotomy, they’d have a chance to repair it and that during the repair, they could actually create a better perineum than if they hadn’t done it. The idea [was] that we could ‘tighten things up,’” explains doctor.

However, a 2005 systematic review in the Journal of the American Medical Association found no benefit to routine episiotomy use. A 2017 Cochrane review “could not identify any benefits of routine episiotomy for the baby or the mother.” In 2016, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended that clinicians “prevent and manage” delivery lacerations through strategies like massage and warm compresses rather than making cuts on the perineum. Yet, this practice still continues inside the labor rooms.