Fears

I worry so much about my baby: Is that sneeze the start of the swine flu? Yikes, are those dots chicken pox? How do you contain your fears?

Our Mommy MD Guide’s reply: When you have children, maternal worries come to the forefront. This is true for physicians as well. When my children are sick, what I’ve learned becomes a blur.

It’s our nature as moms to think the worst—to exaggerate and over concern ourselves. That’s been a continuing challenge for me. I try to keep my head and not worry that every cough is pneumonia or every blemish is a viral rash.

What I do is use my husband as my touchstone. He’s there to tell me a cold is just a cold. He’s able to view things more rationally than me.

—Silvana Ribaudo, MD, a mom of two and an assistant clinical professor at the Columbia University Medical Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons, and at ColumbiaDoctors Eastside, both in New York City