Transcript: Birth Certificates and Social Security Cards for Your Newborn
Newbies
Birth Certificates and Social Security Cards for Your Newborn
[00:00:00]
Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Having your new little baby in your arms is such a joyful time. You’re getting to know her sounds, her smells and needs and it seem so simple except for the many knocks at your door alerting you that you must fill up this form and sign here and initial there. Also you must name your baby before you can leave the hospital. If you have chosen an out of hospital birth, perhaps you don’t even know where to begin to obtain a birth certificate. What is all this paper work for and does it have to be so complicated? This is Newbies.
[Theme Music/Intro]
KRISTEN STRATTON: Welcome to Newbies. Newbies is your online on the go support group, guiding new mothers with their baby’s first year. I'm your host Kristen Stratton, Certified Birth Doula, Postpartum Doula, and Owner of In Due Season Doula Services. If you haven’t already, please visit our website at www.NewMommyMedia.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also subscribe to our show through iTunes, so you’ll automatically get new episodes when they’re released. Here is Sunny with details on how you can get involved with Newbies.
SUNNY GAULT: All right, hi everybody. Thanks so much for listening to Newbies. There are lots of ways to get involved with our show. We encourage you guys all the time that hey, this is your show. We want you to become, involved and to participates as much as you feel comfortable doing. I want to talk a little bit about story ideas because Newbies are still kind of a fairly new show. We have a lot of ideas we can explore but we’ve also covered a lot of similar topics on some of our other show. We’re always looking for a new story ideas. Ideas of different topics, so you guys want to know more about. Here is what I'm going to encourage everybody to do.
If you have a new baby and there’re some topics you want to more information about. First, go to our website at www.NewMommyMedia.com. If you go to the Newbies section of the website, you can click on episodes and you can see a complete list of all of the episodes that we’ve release so far. If you’re listening to iTunes, same thing, you can just click on our page on iTunes so you can see a complete list of everything. Scroll through, make sure, we haven’t covered it already but send us your ideas and let us know what you want to more about. In fact, today’s episode is actually based on an idea that somebody sent us. This comes from Alison.
I'm going to go ahead and read her comment because I want to give her some props because I think today’s conversation is really important, so I'm going to make sure Alison is recognized for this. Her idea was either for Preggie Pals which is our sister show for Newbies. She wrote;
“It would be really helpful to talk through the administrative logistics after giving birth, for example, how soon should parents apply for an official birth certificate and social security number for a baby? What is the standard process? What other documents are critical to have on hand? Should parents consider life insurance on the baby”, and she kind of continues on.
That’s kind of what prompted today’s episode, so Alison, thanks so much for sending us this episode idea. It’s a great idea that’s why we decided to do it. If you have another idea out there, be sure to email us. You can also go to our website and send us a voicemail and we’ll include that on a future show and we’ll give you some prize as well.
KRISTEN STRATTON: All right, let’s meet our mamas joining our conversation today. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your family and your experience with today’s topic. Let’s meet Beviona.
VIVIANA: Hi everybody, so you mentioned, my name is Viviana. I am mom to a four month old baby girl, so I'm still quite a newbie. I came at a corporate marketing and so, I’ve morphed my professional life into something more conducive to my newbie lifestyle. Now, I'm a marketing consultant and a real estate investor. I used to live in fabulous Southern California. Now, I'm in South Florida, apparently have something for the southern state side of this fabulous country.
KRISTEN STRATTON: All right. Well, welcome to the show.
[Theme Music]
SUNNY GAULT: All right, so before we kick off our show today, I thought it would be interesting to talk about this news headline that I found. I'm not sure if this is a new concept but it kind of blew my mind that people are exploring this. Apparently, you can pay someone to name your baby. Since we’re talking about birth certificates today and all that official paper work that you fill out in the very beginning for your baby, I thought this might be an interesting news headline.
There are professional naming experts out there, and in this particular article is kind of going through and it’s a little more in depth about how you name your baby and there’s people that actually grade names on babies like oh no, that’s like a 76, you know, out of a hundred and oh, this is like, you know, you don’t want to do that because when your child is older, whatever, you know, they’re not going to want a name like that, whatever the name might.
I kind of goes into the article talks about that a little bit and then it talks about that a little bit. Then it talks about these companies. This is what really kind of got me going on this that there are professional services, not just in the U.S. but all over the world apparently where you can pay these companies to research names, and apparently come up with the perfect baby name for your baby. This one service I was talking about in the article is based on Switzerland and it charges $29,000 for every baby names. I don’t know if you guys had a more sophisticated process but I don’t know. The process my husband and I went through to determine the names where all four of our kids wasn’t worth $29,000.
Anyway, just kind of wanted to get you know, your thoughts on this. Have you heard of these companies out there that name babies as this you know, something new? I don’t know it is been around, if just been living under a rock. I don’t know. Kristen, what do you think?
KRISTEN STRATTON: I am in shock. I had no idea such a thing existed. In all my birth work experience, that was not a conversation I’ve ever happen to claim. It’s typically, oh, why’d you pick that name, and it’s either oh, we named them after someone so, or we just thought it sounded nice. When I went through the process with my husband of naming our three children, all of our children’s names are family name, so you know, we do creativity from what was accessible, but I mean, we also thought like, okay, what rhymes with like potty words and what rhymes with you know …
SUNNY GAULT: What if they got be tease about in school?
KRISTEN STRATTON: Yeah, what if they’re going to be teased about in schools but I can definitely not see myself spending almost $30,000 on name which I feel like I'm an intelligent person and not living under a rock and I'm pretty sure that I'm capable of coming up with a name that my children are not going to hate me for. I don’t know. I think money is better spent on college personally.
SUNNY GAULT: Well, okay. The article continues and it says, for that $29,000, they’re going to devote two to three weeks at around 100 hours of work to this whole process and it kind of goes on and it says that you really need to think about things, you know, don’t base your names of emotions that that’s “over rated”. I guess that the firm checks to see if a baby name is been trademark or not, if it’s close to an existing brand name where you could get into some legal trouble. Anyways, it kind of goes, I mean, it’s not you know, just as simple as just, oh, I think this and this would sound together. You know, I'm sure, that’s part of the process but I think they do a lot of legal research on it too.
I don’t know if you’re going to have liked the next president of the United States. I mean maybe that kind of stuff is important. You want to secure the URL. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on.
KRISTEN STRATTON: That’s interesting because when it palter name to a baby Apple or …
SUNNY GAULT: Right.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Then there’s Apple, the company.
SUNNY GAULT: Yeah, you’re right.
KRISTEN STRATTON: I think you got in trouble for that.
SUNNY GAULT: I don’t know how can you prohibit a mom for doing that. I don’t know.
KRISTEN STRATTON: I don’t know.
SUNNY GAULT: Okay, so we’ll go ahead. We’ll post this story on Facebook page if you want to check this out. I don’t know if it lists any of the names of the companies if you guys sort of like hey, who does this? I want to know. I'll give him a call, but we post it and you guy can check it out.
[Theme Music]
KRISTEN STRATTON: Today on Newbies, we are discussing the paper work side of having the baby. Depending on where you birth, you may encounter different challenges with registering your child’s birth with your local county or with the federal government. Our expert today is certified nurse-midwife, Susan Melnikow of Tree Of Life Birth Center in Encinitas. Thank you for joining us Susan and welcome to the show.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Thank you so much for having me.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Susan, can you please tell us what major authorities through which parents register to children’s birth?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Usually it’s state by state. The state requires that you registered the birth and then also a social security part is now mandated.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Do all of the states register the birth at the county level or does that also vary state to state?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I'm much more knowledgeable about what’s done here in California that I do know that it’s done a little bit differently depending on the state laws.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Is there a requirement for the parents to file for a social security number for their children with the federal government?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yes, there is. That is legally mandated but that’s done automatically depending on where the baby is born and how the birth certificate is done.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Okay, so birth certificate then social security card?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Correct. You have to have the official copy of the birth certificate in order to get the social security card if you’re doing it yourself.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Okay and I know in the hospitals, they kind of just do that simultaneously.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yeah, which done in the hospitals usually is that they have worksheets. After the baby is born, the parents are given the worksheet to fill out the baby’s name and all of the other personal data that goes on the birth certificate. Most hospitals tell parents that it’s required that they complete that before discharge. Here in California, the hospitals are told that they have 10 days to submit that to the county and that’s kind of the policy. In reality, parents actually have a year to name their baby but most people don’t know that because that’s not the information that’s put out.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Right, because you know, usually, it’s that hospitals that say no, we can’t discharge you until you have a name for your baby.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yeah, because what happens is they are held to the 10 days by the state and all the information the state puts out says that the form for registration for the birth certificate has to be in to them within 10 days.
KRISTEN STRATTON: So if you wanted the option of having a year, you would have to birth outside the hospital?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I mean, I'm sure someone could you know, stand firm and go through all of the process that they would need to do to do that but you have to remember, with hospitals, they’re dealing with so many people and if they don’t submit the paper work on time to the state then it kind of it’s like a cog in wheel, it stops the process.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Yeah, one of my siblings had that, where they just couldn’t decide a name and it was like day three and you know, the registration person will coming up and going okay, now, you seriously need to pick a name for your baby and you know, we need to get this over with. We have Viviana on as our guest today and I know she kind of has a unique experience, so Viviana, could you kind of share what your process has been?
VIVIANA: Of course, so we’re in a little bit of a unique situation and that we adopted our baby girl, and so we were lucky enough to be at the hospital with the birth mom when our daughter was born, and so, there’s a great deal of paper that we also have to fill out and different processes and I kind of go varies State by State. But in the State of Florida the way it works is that the birth mom fills out certain paper work and at that time, she actually fills out a birth certificate with the baby’s name. Now, she can leave the first and middle blank but the baby will have her last name. In our case, she else does what we’re going to name our daughter and so she utilized both and first and middle name and left her last name.
Then as you go through the process of the adoption paper work, once you get to the final paper work which is the decreeing, you go to court and judge has all the final paper work. Then you fill out a new birth certificate registration form in which we then have her first, middle and her last name, our last names, and then they issue a new birth certificate and then from there, we can get a social security number.
KRISTEN STRATTON: That’s so fascinating. You know, when I had my kids, my … All my kids were born in the hospital but I remember specifically with my first, I was all excited about filling out this paper work because they gave us all of it ahead of time. You know, I'm filling everything out and I loved the name we picked out, but with our second, I didn’t prefill up that out because I had a toddler and I was little busy but I had another C-section and it was really difficult to try to fill that paper work go and like the registration person came in and I'm like trying to breastfeed and he’s like looking at me like he’s never seen a boob before in his life.
Yeah, and then probably threw him off, so I'm trying to sign this one handed, trying to get like a latch with a brand new baby. And I actually got that birth certificate in the mail. You know, we paid for the certified copy, and my birth date is wrong on it. Not my kid’s birth day but my birth day. You know we got to pay to get that corrected because if I'm sure they were to look me up just by my name and my birth day, I technically only have two children and not three. So double check in the hospital births, double check that everything is correct and it’s really hard to do that when either one, you’re under the influence of medication and you’re trying to breastfeed a wiggly baby at the same time.
SUNNY GAULT: Well, that brings up a good point. I mean, Susan, what happens if we do a mistake on the birth certificate whatever it might be, maybe we misspell the baby’s name or you know, I don’t know, or we just want to change it? I mean, I’ve talked to mammas out there that you know, they decided after couple days of having one name that that was not going to fit for their baby. I mean, what is the process for changing any information on the birth certificate?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Well, when she signed the original form, you’re signing that everything on there is correct. Once you’ve done that and it’s been submitted to the state, then there is a fee just like Kristen said. Any changes that you want to make required doing the process all over again, and I want to say it’s $350.
SUNNY GAULT: What?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I may be wrong about that but it’s at least that. It’s serious stuff, you know. When you’re signing that, you want to make sure that it’s all correct. If you’re not sure you want that name and it’s better to wait.
SUNNY GAULT: Kristen, how much should it cost?
KRISTEN STRATTON: I haven’t done it.
SUNNY GAULT: Wow, wait, till you have 350 bucks?
KRISTEN STRATTON: I would let you know how it goes and we can do a little segment on the future show all about it. Anyway, so Susan, we talked to a little bit about how we have to sign all those paper work at the hospital, but what is the actual process and timeline for you know, first we submit for the birth certificate and then the hospitals also simultaneously applying for a social security card but kind of does any of that process overlap or just one come before the other and then, what’s kind of the timeline for getting copies of all of those records and getting the social security card?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Here in California, for hospital births, once the parent did signed and everything is okay on the form, it actually is transmitted to the State electronically and that triggers an automatic registration for social security. It’s all done kind of in one step in hospital births and it’s all electronic. So parents don’t have to worry about doing that step themselves but it is at least the six week time frame from time that it’s filed for the birth certificate until the parents actually receive a copy in the mail and it’s even a little bit longer for social security.
KRISTEN STRATTON: I'm sure and most States are so similar but I know here in California, if we want a copy of the birth certificate, we have to pay for that at the county level but the social security card, that’s free, that’s automatic, correct?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yes.
VIVIANA: Does anybody know if you have to have a social security number to get a passport for your baby?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I believe you do.
SUNNY GAULT: But I will say, we were going to Mexico and we needed to get something for my son, and I think they gave you some sort of grace period though before you absolutely have to have a passport. It’s not that I don’t know, it’s a first year for six months, I can’t remember right now but I think it may be the first six months, that’s want to I say. Don’t quote me on that. I mean, they do give you a little bit of time though to kind of get everything in order, so if that’s off concern, you know, right after your baby is born or you know, you have a little bit of time.
KRISTEN STRATTON: When we come back, we will continue our discussion about taking care of business and talk about what to do if you’re having a birth outside of the hospital. We’ll be right back.
[Theme Music]
KRISTEN STRATTON: Welcome back to the show. We’re talking with Certified Nurse-Midwife, Susan Melnikow about birth registration in all settings. Susan, is there a difference in the birth registration process when a mom gives birth at a License Birth Center?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yes it is, and again, I'm speaking specifically to California but like we were talking about in the hospital. It’s electronic process. If a person has been in existence for quite a while, some of them have access to their electronic process. I work in the birth center that could do that, so it’s very similar to the way the hospital was done. If the parent’s need a name, they would fill out all the registration form in the first five days and then the birth center had a county person come in to the birth center and submit everything electronically. At the same time, the social security card was generated automatically from that electronic submission. I have a new birth center. We’ve been here for a year and a half.
When we first open, the county was saying yes, yes, yes, we’re going to get you on the electronic system, but it’s been very difficult and it has to do with State and the county because the State system and the county only get so many slots for the electronic submission. So, so far, we’ve not been able to access that. Our parents that birth with us have to do the birth certificate in a very same way that home birthers do it. It’s a much more complex system that has to occur.
KRISTEN STRATTON: How does the birth certificate process go for your birth center and then also for the home birth since you mentioned that’s similar?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: San Diego County has given us a huge package of information that we are responsible for giving to each of our clients, and in that packet, there is a worksheet for the baby’s name and the family’s information. It’s the same worksheet that they use in the hospital. There’s a worksheet for all the medical information, the time and the birth and the medical information about mom and the actual birth.
We facilitate the parents doing this and we usually try to take care within the first week not necessarily at the time the birth because our parents go home really early but we do it when they come back to see us between five and 10 days.
They need those worksheets. They also need either a signed letter or the presents of two people who witness the birth to go down to the registrar’s office with them. That means that usually the baby’s dad or if there were some other person, family member that witness the birth, they go with the mom and then we provide an original signature on a letter that has all the specific medical information that they want, and they accept that from us as long we’re registered with the Bureau of Vital Statistics and they need to take the baby with them. Either two people or one person and a signed original letter and the baby have to go.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Does that letter have to be notarized?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: It does not have to be notarized, no.
KRISTEN STRATTON: What happens for parents who have a planned or unplanned unassisted birth, are there any complications with registering their child’s birth?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: There can be because again, there’re needs to be two witnesses. Now, if they were planning a birth center birth and unplanned, the baby came really quickly, usually, they’ll still allow us to write a letter because we had been you know, we have knowledge of the family and we were providing care all through the pregnancy so we knew this mom and we took care of her immediately after the birth, but if that’s not the case and a family just has an unassisted birth, they definitely need two people who witness the birth to go with them or a letter from someone who witness the birth.
What happens is when they go to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, the birth certificate can be done immediately while they’re there and they can actually purchase an official copy of that time, but then, it’s a second step where they have to go for the social security office in another time.
KRISTEN STRATTON: I’ve heard of some people that kind of live off the grid and they have unassisted birth and then they don’t register their children, so do you have any knowledge of that or is that something that you know the consequences of?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I’ve encountered some people have told me that they’re doing that and I understand the rationale behind it. I just think it’s probably going to be difficult for the child as they grow up. You know, not having that because we know how many times we’re asked for our birth certificate or a social, you know, just in everyday life.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Viviana kind of has an interesting perspective about what Susan just mentioned is how often were ask for that information, so Viviana, can you kind of share about some of your background as far as children’s information in protecting that?
VIVIANA: Sure you bet. I spent about five years working for one of the credit bureau’s experience and actually we’re on the marketing department for the products that focused on identity theft protection, so basically helping people try to protect their identities because it’s a fairly common crime here in the U.S., and so, there is just sign of safeguards that we recommend it a lot through a lot of our content to really help people educate themselves on the process and you know, it does really depend on different States. I think I had mentioned earlier that I was in California. Now, we’re in Florida, and doctor’s offices in California weren’t requesting. I didn’t find that they’re requesting social security numbers nearly as often and the doctor’s offices for us in Florida, there they ask it quite often.
It’s still sort of the norm here. So, just some of the things that we always suggested is you know, be very judicious in terms of sharing a child social security number because typically, you’re not using that social from birth on you know, once our teens, once they’re 18 and so, it becomes little bit easier for child’s identity to be stolen and a lot of times, you don’t actually figure it out until they turn 18 and they might be I don’t know signing up, credit up to getting to an apartment because they’re going to college and also, they realized oh my gosh, you have a home in your name.
We always recommended that people be super judicious in terms of how they utilize their children’s social security numbers. There’s a bunch of different product out there too to protect families and all of that.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Well, this brings up a whole issue of that the whole identity theft has actually finished the process that the home birthers have to go through at the social security office. I’ve seen this actually recently just in the last two months. Originally, we were providing a certificate that the baby has been born in our birth center and the social security office was accepting our certificate and the official copy of the birth certificate. They no longer are just accepting our certificate as of the last two months. They now need our certificate plus something else that has the baby’s full name on it. I tried sending you know, the newborn has a newborn blood test that goes to the State lab, and I tried sending a copy of that because it has the address that of the baby.
The two that I sent, the parents had not choose a name yet, when was drawn and they’ve had baby boy or baby girl with the last name, and if they had the address and the doctor’s name and everything, and social security would not accept that as being proof that the baby has been born and not died.
Now, they’re telling all our parents that they need proof that the baby has lived beyond the first 24 hours. So I’ve changed the certificate we’re giving and I don’t give it until a two week visit. It has the date and the time of the birth in that. I attended the birth and then I’ve added a line with today, the date two weeks later that, the full name, I put the name of the baby like Henry James was seen today for a weight check and breastfeed support, and they’re now accepting that.
KRISTEN STRATTON: That is so interesting, the hoops you have to jump through to prove that you had a baby. I mean, it make sense.
SUNNY GAULT: It does, and you know, I mean, there are obviously people out there. Of course no one that listens to the show but there are people out there that could abuse the system. I mean, you really put if you were trying to scam and get money from the government or whatever you could make up that you had a baby, you know.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Get a tax right off.
VIVIANA: The tax fraud has sky rocketed in last few years and they do target newborns because you don’t pay attention to that and so they can falsify also the data and those had new kid has a tax record.
SUNNY GAULT: You know, can I ask a follow up question because this is the first time I'm ever hearing about people wanting to go off the grid here and I don’t know if it’s just me and I know when you own your own business and stuff, I guess you have to you know, you use your social security number a lot more or maybe than other people but I would not be able to get through a single day if I did not have a social number like this is like mind-blowing to me why people would do this and we’re certainly not advocating that but like what are some of the reasons that someone want to go off the grid like this? I'm totally perplexed by this.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: A lot of people in our country today feel like the country has gotten way to complex and that were being track through our social security numbers and you know, electronically through our activity on websites and on our email, so there is a suspicion out there among a lot of people that it’s kind of like big brother, watching everything that we’re doing and some people are reacting to that I believe.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Wow. Well, thank you so much Susan and Viviana for joining us today in our discussion about taking care of birth certificates and social security cards after baby comes. For our Newbies Club members, our conversation will continue after the end of the show, as Susan will share about parents who choose not to register their children’s birth and if that affects birth workers who attended their birth. For more information about the Newbies Club, please visit our website at www.NewMommyMedia.com.
[Theme Music]
SUNNY GAULT: All right, so, before we wrap up our show today, we have a submission for a “Baby Oops" segments. So if you guys listen to Newbies, you know, we’d love to hear those crazy stories of things that either happens to you or you’ve done to your baby within the first year of life especially for first time moms.
This one comes from Brianna and Brianna has a message for first time moms based on her experience with car seats and so this is what Brianna had to say.
“First time moms, make sure you know how to work the straps on your car seat before you have to use it the first time, sound simple enough to do which is why my husband and I never thought to mess with it beforehand. Well, as first time parents, we were nervous I guess and didn’t know about the button to loosen the straps and spent so long in the hospital room trying to get our little one strapped in while she was screaming bloody murder”.
“It was so stressful and none of the nurses could help because of the liability but they wouldn’t let us leave the room until she was safety strapped in. Finally, we flag down another father walking down the hall and we had him help us. Keep in mind we’re also so sleep deprive at that point that our brains were probably not functioning very well too”.
I totally understand what she’s talking about. Now, I remember having some questions with my twins, so I had two car seats and they were preemies. They were 35 weekers and so they’re pretty tiny, about five and a half pounds each. I remember asking the nurse that came in because we delivered at the hospital, I remember asking her is this right like to I you know, do this or whatever because she was so tiny.
I just wasn’t sure you know, you hear about not putting extra stuff in the car seat or whatever, right? So, I was like, can I put a blanket here to support her neck? Like what’s the best way to do this? And I remember them kind of being standoffish about it. I'm like, I don’t know what to do with this baby.
Now, thankfully, my kids weren’t going crazy screaming. She was just kind of sleep in there but I remember that feeling of oh my gosh, what do you do? And if you’re you know, first time parents, yeah, I mean, most people haven’t you know, dealt with those buckles and not readily thing that they’re talking that little button. So I totally understand what you’re going though Brianna. Thanks so much for sending this in.
If you guys have a “Baby Oops" idea for this segment, if you guys have a story you want to share, you can send us an email through the website at www.NewMommyMedia.com. Click on the contact link at the bottom or you can tell us your story yourself. Just click that grey button on the side that says send voicemail and then you can share your story with your own voice, this just uses the microphone on your computer and sends it to us that way, so I can’t wait to hear your stories.
[Theme Music]
KRISTEN STRATTON: That’s wraps up our show for today. We appreciate you listening to Newbies.
Don’t forget to check out our sister show:
• Preggie Pals for expecting parents
• Parent Savers for parents with infants and toddlers
• Twin Talks for parents with multiples and
• Boob Group for moms who breastfeed
This is Preggie Pals, your pregnancy you way.
[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. The information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. While such information and materials are believed to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, medical advice or care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating health care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.
SUNNY GAULT: New Mommy Media is expanding our line-up of shows for new and expecting parents. If you have an idea for a new series, or if you’re a business, or organization interested in joining our network of shows through a co-branded podcast, visit www.NewMommyMedia.com.
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Episode Transcript
Newbies
Birth Certificates and Social Security Cards for Your Newborn
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Please be advised, this transcription was performed from a company independent of New Mommy Media, LLC. As such, translation was required which may alter the accuracy of the transcription.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Having your new little baby in your arms is such a joyful time. You’re getting to know her sounds, her smells and needs and it seem so simple except for the many knocks at your door alerting you that you must fill up this form and sign here and initial there. Also you must name your baby before you can leave the hospital. If you have chosen an out of hospital birth, perhaps you don’t even know where to begin to obtain a birth certificate. What is all this paper work for and does it have to be so complicated? This is Newbies.
[Theme Music/Intro]
KRISTEN STRATTON: Welcome to Newbies. Newbies is your online on the go support group, guiding new mothers with their baby’s first year. I'm your host Kristen Stratton, Certified Birth Doula, Postpartum Doula, and Owner of In Due Season Doula Services. If you haven’t already, please visit our website at www.NewMommyMedia.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter. You can also subscribe to our show through iTunes, so you’ll automatically get new episodes when they’re released. Here is Sunny with details on how you can get involved with Newbies.
SUNNY GAULT: All right, hi everybody. Thanks so much for listening to Newbies. There are lots of ways to get involved with our show. We encourage you guys all the time that hey, this is your show. We want you to become, involved and to participates as much as you feel comfortable doing. I want to talk a little bit about story ideas because Newbies are still kind of a fairly new show. We have a lot of ideas we can explore but we’ve also covered a lot of similar topics on some of our other show. We’re always looking for a new story ideas. Ideas of different topics, so you guys want to know more about. Here is what I'm going to encourage everybody to do.
If you have a new baby and there’re some topics you want to more information about. First, go to our website at www.NewMommyMedia.com. If you go to the Newbies section of the website, you can click on episodes and you can see a complete list of all of the episodes that we’ve release so far. If you’re listening to iTunes, same thing, you can just click on our page on iTunes so you can see a complete list of everything. Scroll through, make sure, we haven’t covered it already but send us your ideas and let us know what you want to more about. In fact, today’s episode is actually based on an idea that somebody sent us. This comes from Alison.
I'm going to go ahead and read her comment because I want to give her some props because I think today’s conversation is really important, so I'm going to make sure Alison is recognized for this. Her idea was either for Preggie Pals which is our sister show for Newbies. She wrote;
“It would be really helpful to talk through the administrative logistics after giving birth, for example, how soon should parents apply for an official birth certificate and social security number for a baby? What is the standard process? What other documents are critical to have on hand? Should parents consider life insurance on the baby”, and she kind of continues on.
That’s kind of what prompted today’s episode, so Alison, thanks so much for sending us this episode idea. It’s a great idea that’s why we decided to do it. If you have another idea out there, be sure to email us. You can also go to our website and send us a voicemail and we’ll include that on a future show and we’ll give you some prize as well.
KRISTEN STRATTON: All right, let’s meet our mamas joining our conversation today. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your family and your experience with today’s topic. Let’s meet Beviona.
VIVIANA: Hi everybody, so you mentioned, my name is Viviana. I am mom to a four month old baby girl, so I'm still quite a newbie. I came at a corporate marketing and so, I’ve morphed my professional life into something more conducive to my newbie lifestyle. Now, I'm a marketing consultant and a real estate investor. I used to live in fabulous Southern California. Now, I'm in South Florida, apparently have something for the southern state side of this fabulous country.
KRISTEN STRATTON: All right. Well, welcome to the show.
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SUNNY GAULT: All right, so before we kick off our show today, I thought it would be interesting to talk about this news headline that I found. I'm not sure if this is a new concept but it kind of blew my mind that people are exploring this. Apparently, you can pay someone to name your baby. Since we’re talking about birth certificates today and all that official paper work that you fill out in the very beginning for your baby, I thought this might be an interesting news headline.
There are professional naming experts out there, and in this particular article is kind of going through and it’s a little more in depth about how you name your baby and there’s people that actually grade names on babies like oh no, that’s like a 76, you know, out of a hundred and oh, this is like, you know, you don’t want to do that because when your child is older, whatever, you know, they’re not going to want a name like that, whatever the name might.
I kind of goes into the article talks about that a little bit and then it talks about that a little bit. Then it talks about these companies. This is what really kind of got me going on this that there are professional services, not just in the U.S. but all over the world apparently where you can pay these companies to research names, and apparently come up with the perfect baby name for your baby. This one service I was talking about in the article is based on Switzerland and it charges $29,000 for every baby names. I don’t know if you guys had a more sophisticated process but I don’t know. The process my husband and I went through to determine the names where all four of our kids wasn’t worth $29,000.
Anyway, just kind of wanted to get you know, your thoughts on this. Have you heard of these companies out there that name babies as this you know, something new? I don’t know it is been around, if just been living under a rock. I don’t know. Kristen, what do you think?
KRISTEN STRATTON: I am in shock. I had no idea such a thing existed. In all my birth work experience, that was not a conversation I’ve ever happen to claim. It’s typically, oh, why’d you pick that name, and it’s either oh, we named them after someone so, or we just thought it sounded nice. When I went through the process with my husband of naming our three children, all of our children’s names are family name, so you know, we do creativity from what was accessible, but I mean, we also thought like, okay, what rhymes with like potty words and what rhymes with you know …
SUNNY GAULT: What if they got be tease about in school?
KRISTEN STRATTON: Yeah, what if they’re going to be teased about in schools but I can definitely not see myself spending almost $30,000 on name which I feel like I'm an intelligent person and not living under a rock and I'm pretty sure that I'm capable of coming up with a name that my children are not going to hate me for. I don’t know. I think money is better spent on college personally.
SUNNY GAULT: Well, okay. The article continues and it says, for that $29,000, they’re going to devote two to three weeks at around 100 hours of work to this whole process and it kind of goes on and it says that you really need to think about things, you know, don’t base your names of emotions that that’s “over rated”. I guess that the firm checks to see if a baby name is been trademark or not, if it’s close to an existing brand name where you could get into some legal trouble. Anyways, it kind of goes, I mean, it’s not you know, just as simple as just, oh, I think this and this would sound together. You know, I'm sure, that’s part of the process but I think they do a lot of legal research on it too.
I don’t know if you’re going to have liked the next president of the United States. I mean maybe that kind of stuff is important. You want to secure the URL. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on.
KRISTEN STRATTON: That’s interesting because when it palter name to a baby Apple or …
SUNNY GAULT: Right.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Then there’s Apple, the company.
SUNNY GAULT: Yeah, you’re right.
KRISTEN STRATTON: I think you got in trouble for that.
SUNNY GAULT: I don’t know how can you prohibit a mom for doing that. I don’t know.
KRISTEN STRATTON: I don’t know.
SUNNY GAULT: Okay, so we’ll go ahead. We’ll post this story on Facebook page if you want to check this out. I don’t know if it lists any of the names of the companies if you guys sort of like hey, who does this? I want to know. I'll give him a call, but we post it and you guy can check it out.
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KRISTEN STRATTON: Today on Newbies, we are discussing the paper work side of having the baby. Depending on where you birth, you may encounter different challenges with registering your child’s birth with your local county or with the federal government. Our expert today is certified nurse-midwife, Susan Melnikow of Tree Of Life Birth Center in Encinitas. Thank you for joining us Susan and welcome to the show.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Thank you so much for having me.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Susan, can you please tell us what major authorities through which parents register to children’s birth?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Usually it’s state by state. The state requires that you registered the birth and then also a social security part is now mandated.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Do all of the states register the birth at the county level or does that also vary state to state?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I'm much more knowledgeable about what’s done here in California that I do know that it’s done a little bit differently depending on the state laws.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Is there a requirement for the parents to file for a social security number for their children with the federal government?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yes, there is. That is legally mandated but that’s done automatically depending on where the baby is born and how the birth certificate is done.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Okay, so birth certificate then social security card?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Correct. You have to have the official copy of the birth certificate in order to get the social security card if you’re doing it yourself.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Okay and I know in the hospitals, they kind of just do that simultaneously.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yeah, which done in the hospitals usually is that they have worksheets. After the baby is born, the parents are given the worksheet to fill out the baby’s name and all of the other personal data that goes on the birth certificate. Most hospitals tell parents that it’s required that they complete that before discharge. Here in California, the hospitals are told that they have 10 days to submit that to the county and that’s kind of the policy. In reality, parents actually have a year to name their baby but most people don’t know that because that’s not the information that’s put out.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Right, because you know, usually, it’s that hospitals that say no, we can’t discharge you until you have a name for your baby.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yeah, because what happens is they are held to the 10 days by the state and all the information the state puts out says that the form for registration for the birth certificate has to be in to them within 10 days.
KRISTEN STRATTON: So if you wanted the option of having a year, you would have to birth outside the hospital?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I mean, I'm sure someone could you know, stand firm and go through all of the process that they would need to do to do that but you have to remember, with hospitals, they’re dealing with so many people and if they don’t submit the paper work on time to the state then it kind of it’s like a cog in wheel, it stops the process.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Yeah, one of my siblings had that, where they just couldn’t decide a name and it was like day three and you know, the registration person will coming up and going okay, now, you seriously need to pick a name for your baby and you know, we need to get this over with. We have Viviana on as our guest today and I know she kind of has a unique experience, so Viviana, could you kind of share what your process has been?
VIVIANA: Of course, so we’re in a little bit of a unique situation and that we adopted our baby girl, and so we were lucky enough to be at the hospital with the birth mom when our daughter was born, and so, there’s a great deal of paper that we also have to fill out and different processes and I kind of go varies State by State. But in the State of Florida the way it works is that the birth mom fills out certain paper work and at that time, she actually fills out a birth certificate with the baby’s name. Now, she can leave the first and middle blank but the baby will have her last name. In our case, she else does what we’re going to name our daughter and so she utilized both and first and middle name and left her last name.
Then as you go through the process of the adoption paper work, once you get to the final paper work which is the decreeing, you go to court and judge has all the final paper work. Then you fill out a new birth certificate registration form in which we then have her first, middle and her last name, our last names, and then they issue a new birth certificate and then from there, we can get a social security number.
KRISTEN STRATTON: That’s so fascinating. You know, when I had my kids, my … All my kids were born in the hospital but I remember specifically with my first, I was all excited about filling out this paper work because they gave us all of it ahead of time. You know, I'm filling everything out and I loved the name we picked out, but with our second, I didn’t prefill up that out because I had a toddler and I was little busy but I had another C-section and it was really difficult to try to fill that paper work go and like the registration person came in and I'm like trying to breastfeed and he’s like looking at me like he’s never seen a boob before in his life.
Yeah, and then probably threw him off, so I'm trying to sign this one handed, trying to get like a latch with a brand new baby. And I actually got that birth certificate in the mail. You know, we paid for the certified copy, and my birth date is wrong on it. Not my kid’s birth day but my birth day. You know we got to pay to get that corrected because if I'm sure they were to look me up just by my name and my birth day, I technically only have two children and not three. So double check in the hospital births, double check that everything is correct and it’s really hard to do that when either one, you’re under the influence of medication and you’re trying to breastfeed a wiggly baby at the same time.
SUNNY GAULT: Well, that brings up a good point. I mean, Susan, what happens if we do a mistake on the birth certificate whatever it might be, maybe we misspell the baby’s name or you know, I don’t know, or we just want to change it? I mean, I’ve talked to mammas out there that you know, they decided after couple days of having one name that that was not going to fit for their baby. I mean, what is the process for changing any information on the birth certificate?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Well, when she signed the original form, you’re signing that everything on there is correct. Once you’ve done that and it’s been submitted to the state, then there is a fee just like Kristen said. Any changes that you want to make required doing the process all over again, and I want to say it’s $350.
SUNNY GAULT: What?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I may be wrong about that but it’s at least that. It’s serious stuff, you know. When you’re signing that, you want to make sure that it’s all correct. If you’re not sure you want that name and it’s better to wait.
SUNNY GAULT: Kristen, how much should it cost?
KRISTEN STRATTON: I haven’t done it.
SUNNY GAULT: Wow, wait, till you have 350 bucks?
KRISTEN STRATTON: I would let you know how it goes and we can do a little segment on the future show all about it. Anyway, so Susan, we talked to a little bit about how we have to sign all those paper work at the hospital, but what is the actual process and timeline for you know, first we submit for the birth certificate and then the hospitals also simultaneously applying for a social security card but kind of does any of that process overlap or just one come before the other and then, what’s kind of the timeline for getting copies of all of those records and getting the social security card?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Here in California, for hospital births, once the parent did signed and everything is okay on the form, it actually is transmitted to the State electronically and that triggers an automatic registration for social security. It’s all done kind of in one step in hospital births and it’s all electronic. So parents don’t have to worry about doing that step themselves but it is at least the six week time frame from time that it’s filed for the birth certificate until the parents actually receive a copy in the mail and it’s even a little bit longer for social security.
KRISTEN STRATTON: I'm sure and most States are so similar but I know here in California, if we want a copy of the birth certificate, we have to pay for that at the county level but the social security card, that’s free, that’s automatic, correct?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yes.
VIVIANA: Does anybody know if you have to have a social security number to get a passport for your baby?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I believe you do.
SUNNY GAULT: But I will say, we were going to Mexico and we needed to get something for my son, and I think they gave you some sort of grace period though before you absolutely have to have a passport. It’s not that I don’t know, it’s a first year for six months, I can’t remember right now but I think it may be the first six months, that’s want to I say. Don’t quote me on that. I mean, they do give you a little bit of time though to kind of get everything in order, so if that’s off concern, you know, right after your baby is born or you know, you have a little bit of time.
KRISTEN STRATTON: When we come back, we will continue our discussion about taking care of business and talk about what to do if you’re having a birth outside of the hospital. We’ll be right back.
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KRISTEN STRATTON: Welcome back to the show. We’re talking with Certified Nurse-Midwife, Susan Melnikow about birth registration in all settings. Susan, is there a difference in the birth registration process when a mom gives birth at a License Birth Center?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Yes it is, and again, I'm speaking specifically to California but like we were talking about in the hospital. It’s electronic process. If a person has been in existence for quite a while, some of them have access to their electronic process. I work in the birth center that could do that, so it’s very similar to the way the hospital was done. If the parent’s need a name, they would fill out all the registration form in the first five days and then the birth center had a county person come in to the birth center and submit everything electronically. At the same time, the social security card was generated automatically from that electronic submission. I have a new birth center. We’ve been here for a year and a half.
When we first open, the county was saying yes, yes, yes, we’re going to get you on the electronic system, but it’s been very difficult and it has to do with State and the county because the State system and the county only get so many slots for the electronic submission. So, so far, we’ve not been able to access that. Our parents that birth with us have to do the birth certificate in a very same way that home birthers do it. It’s a much more complex system that has to occur.
KRISTEN STRATTON: How does the birth certificate process go for your birth center and then also for the home birth since you mentioned that’s similar?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: San Diego County has given us a huge package of information that we are responsible for giving to each of our clients, and in that packet, there is a worksheet for the baby’s name and the family’s information. It’s the same worksheet that they use in the hospital. There’s a worksheet for all the medical information, the time and the birth and the medical information about mom and the actual birth.
We facilitate the parents doing this and we usually try to take care within the first week not necessarily at the time the birth because our parents go home really early but we do it when they come back to see us between five and 10 days.
They need those worksheets. They also need either a signed letter or the presents of two people who witness the birth to go down to the registrar’s office with them. That means that usually the baby’s dad or if there were some other person, family member that witness the birth, they go with the mom and then we provide an original signature on a letter that has all the specific medical information that they want, and they accept that from us as long we’re registered with the Bureau of Vital Statistics and they need to take the baby with them. Either two people or one person and a signed original letter and the baby have to go.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Does that letter have to be notarized?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: It does not have to be notarized, no.
KRISTEN STRATTON: What happens for parents who have a planned or unplanned unassisted birth, are there any complications with registering their child’s birth?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: There can be because again, there’re needs to be two witnesses. Now, if they were planning a birth center birth and unplanned, the baby came really quickly, usually, they’ll still allow us to write a letter because we had been you know, we have knowledge of the family and we were providing care all through the pregnancy so we knew this mom and we took care of her immediately after the birth, but if that’s not the case and a family just has an unassisted birth, they definitely need two people who witness the birth to go with them or a letter from someone who witness the birth.
What happens is when they go to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, the birth certificate can be done immediately while they’re there and they can actually purchase an official copy of that time, but then, it’s a second step where they have to go for the social security office in another time.
KRISTEN STRATTON: I’ve heard of some people that kind of live off the grid and they have unassisted birth and then they don’t register their children, so do you have any knowledge of that or is that something that you know the consequences of?
SUSAN MELNIKOW: I’ve encountered some people have told me that they’re doing that and I understand the rationale behind it. I just think it’s probably going to be difficult for the child as they grow up. You know, not having that because we know how many times we’re asked for our birth certificate or a social, you know, just in everyday life.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Viviana kind of has an interesting perspective about what Susan just mentioned is how often were ask for that information, so Viviana, can you kind of share about some of your background as far as children’s information in protecting that?
VIVIANA: Sure you bet. I spent about five years working for one of the credit bureau’s experience and actually we’re on the marketing department for the products that focused on identity theft protection, so basically helping people try to protect their identities because it’s a fairly common crime here in the U.S., and so, there is just sign of safeguards that we recommend it a lot through a lot of our content to really help people educate themselves on the process and you know, it does really depend on different States. I think I had mentioned earlier that I was in California. Now, we’re in Florida, and doctor’s offices in California weren’t requesting. I didn’t find that they’re requesting social security numbers nearly as often and the doctor’s offices for us in Florida, there they ask it quite often.
It’s still sort of the norm here. So, just some of the things that we always suggested is you know, be very judicious in terms of sharing a child social security number because typically, you’re not using that social from birth on you know, once our teens, once they’re 18 and so, it becomes little bit easier for child’s identity to be stolen and a lot of times, you don’t actually figure it out until they turn 18 and they might be I don’t know signing up, credit up to getting to an apartment because they’re going to college and also, they realized oh my gosh, you have a home in your name.
We always recommended that people be super judicious in terms of how they utilize their children’s social security numbers. There’s a bunch of different product out there too to protect families and all of that.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: Well, this brings up a whole issue of that the whole identity theft has actually finished the process that the home birthers have to go through at the social security office. I’ve seen this actually recently just in the last two months. Originally, we were providing a certificate that the baby has been born in our birth center and the social security office was accepting our certificate and the official copy of the birth certificate. They no longer are just accepting our certificate as of the last two months. They now need our certificate plus something else that has the baby’s full name on it. I tried sending you know, the newborn has a newborn blood test that goes to the State lab, and I tried sending a copy of that because it has the address that of the baby.
The two that I sent, the parents had not choose a name yet, when was drawn and they’ve had baby boy or baby girl with the last name, and if they had the address and the doctor’s name and everything, and social security would not accept that as being proof that the baby has been born and not died.
Now, they’re telling all our parents that they need proof that the baby has lived beyond the first 24 hours. So I’ve changed the certificate we’re giving and I don’t give it until a two week visit. It has the date and the time of the birth in that. I attended the birth and then I’ve added a line with today, the date two weeks later that, the full name, I put the name of the baby like Henry James was seen today for a weight check and breastfeed support, and they’re now accepting that.
KRISTEN STRATTON: That is so interesting, the hoops you have to jump through to prove that you had a baby. I mean, it make sense.
SUNNY GAULT: It does, and you know, I mean, there are obviously people out there. Of course no one that listens to the show but there are people out there that could abuse the system. I mean, you really put if you were trying to scam and get money from the government or whatever you could make up that you had a baby, you know.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Get a tax right off.
VIVIANA: The tax fraud has sky rocketed in last few years and they do target newborns because you don’t pay attention to that and so they can falsify also the data and those had new kid has a tax record.
SUNNY GAULT: You know, can I ask a follow up question because this is the first time I'm ever hearing about people wanting to go off the grid here and I don’t know if it’s just me and I know when you own your own business and stuff, I guess you have to you know, you use your social security number a lot more or maybe than other people but I would not be able to get through a single day if I did not have a social number like this is like mind-blowing to me why people would do this and we’re certainly not advocating that but like what are some of the reasons that someone want to go off the grid like this? I'm totally perplexed by this.
SUSAN MELNIKOW: A lot of people in our country today feel like the country has gotten way to complex and that were being track through our social security numbers and you know, electronically through our activity on websites and on our email, so there is a suspicion out there among a lot of people that it’s kind of like big brother, watching everything that we’re doing and some people are reacting to that I believe.
KRISTEN STRATTON: Wow. Well, thank you so much Susan and Viviana for joining us today in our discussion about taking care of birth certificates and social security cards after baby comes. For our Newbies Club members, our conversation will continue after the end of the show, as Susan will share about parents who choose not to register their children’s birth and if that affects birth workers who attended their birth. For more information about the Newbies Club, please visit our website at www.NewMommyMedia.com.
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SUNNY GAULT: All right, so, before we wrap up our show today, we have a submission for a “Baby Oops" segments. So if you guys listen to Newbies, you know, we’d love to hear those crazy stories of things that either happens to you or you’ve done to your baby within the first year of life especially for first time moms.
This one comes from Brianna and Brianna has a message for first time moms based on her experience with car seats and so this is what Brianna had to say.
“First time moms, make sure you know how to work the straps on your car seat before you have to use it the first time, sound simple enough to do which is why my husband and I never thought to mess with it beforehand. Well, as first time parents, we were nervous I guess and didn’t know about the button to loosen the straps and spent so long in the hospital room trying to get our little one strapped in while she was screaming bloody murder”.
“It was so stressful and none of the nurses could help because of the liability but they wouldn’t let us leave the room until she was safety strapped in. Finally, we flag down another father walking down the hall and we had him help us. Keep in mind we’re also so sleep deprive at that point that our brains were probably not functioning very well too”.
I totally understand what she’s talking about. Now, I remember having some questions with my twins, so I had two car seats and they were preemies. They were 35 weekers and so they’re pretty tiny, about five and a half pounds each. I remember asking the nurse that came in because we delivered at the hospital, I remember asking her is this right like to I you know, do this or whatever because she was so tiny.
I just wasn’t sure you know, you hear about not putting extra stuff in the car seat or whatever, right? So, I was like, can I put a blanket here to support her neck? Like what’s the best way to do this? And I remember them kind of being standoffish about it. I'm like, I don’t know what to do with this baby.
Now, thankfully, my kids weren’t going crazy screaming. She was just kind of sleep in there but I remember that feeling of oh my gosh, what do you do? And if you’re you know, first time parents, yeah, I mean, most people haven’t you know, dealt with those buckles and not readily thing that they’re talking that little button. So I totally understand what you’re going though Brianna. Thanks so much for sending this in.
If you guys have a “Baby Oops" idea for this segment, if you guys have a story you want to share, you can send us an email through the website at www.NewMommyMedia.com. Click on the contact link at the bottom or you can tell us your story yourself. Just click that grey button on the side that says send voicemail and then you can share your story with your own voice, this just uses the microphone on your computer and sends it to us that way, so I can’t wait to hear your stories.
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KRISTEN STRATTON: That’s wraps up our show for today. We appreciate you listening to Newbies.
Don’t forget to check out our sister show:
• Preggie Pals for expecting parents
• Parent Savers for parents with infants and toddlers
• Twin Talks for parents with multiples and
• Boob Group for moms who breastfeed
This is Preggie Pals, your pregnancy you way.
[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. The information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Statements and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. While such information and materials are believed to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, medical advice or care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating health care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.
SUNNY GAULT: New Mommy Media is expanding our line-up of shows for new and expecting parents. If you have an idea for a new series, or if you’re a business, or organization interested in joining our network of shows through a co-branded podcast, visit www.NewMommyMedia.com.
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