Episode 33: Having a Baby with Clubfoot: Interview with Cara Romanik
Before I share about today’s wonderful podcast topic I wanted to give an update on a change that I am making in this show. When I first started this podcast I thought a lot about the bigger picture, how I wanted to serve the podcast community and new parents. The first thing I came up with was: making parenting easier. I had good intentions, however, I have realized along my parenting journey, and my podcasting journey that that was a bunch of baloney sandwiches. Parenting is hard. End of story. No amount of tips and tricks will make it easier. That is the difficult news, the good news is that we are all in it together. So, my new goal of this show is to make parenting more connected. That honestly is what parenting in a village is all about, being connected.
In today’s episode I connected with another podcasting mom, Cara Romanik. In talking with Cara I learned so much about today’s topic, which is clubfoot. Cara from the Glow Up Gals podcast joined us to graciously share about her son’s journey with Clubfoot. It is the most common birth defect and affects about 1 in 1000 children. One of my favorite things that Cara shared in this episode is that she got to witness how resilient her son was from the day that he was born. That touches my heart and makes me feel so proud to be a fellow mother alongside her.
In this episode we discuss:
What is Clubfoot?
a birth defect that about 1 in 1000 children will be diagnosed with
How is it treated?
Used to be surgical
There is now a less invasive method called The Ponseti Method
The Ponseti Method consists of 3 steps:
The casting phase, which slowly moves the foot week by week
A tenotomy, which is a surgical release of the achilles tendon, which is performed with local anesthesia
Boots and Bar, the final phase (and longest) of treatment, in which the child must wear a brace for 23 hours a day at first and then only at night by about 6 months of age
Cara shared her story of finding out about her son’s Clubfoot during her 20 week anatomy scan
She also shared how she found a great community of supportive parents online. She recommends connecting with the following Facebook groups:
If you would like to learn more about Clubfoot, Cara recommends the following resources:
How to connect with Cara:
Instagram: @caraconnects and @glowupgalspodcast
Email: glowupgalspodcast@gmail.com
Thank you so much for listening to the show today!
If you would like to connect with me I am on instagram @findingyourvillage.
Let me know what you have thought of the show so far or if you have any episode ideas or would like to come on the show as a guest. You can also email me directly at amanda@findingyourvillagepod.com.