In 2012 when Lauren began high school in her hometown of Moncton, NB, she started to experience symptoms of Selective Mutism (SM), an anxiety disorder that left her unable to speak in specific situations.
Soon, Lauren’s SM progressed to the point where she could only speak at home.
The Child Life team at the IWK is made of Child Life specialists, a therapeutic clown named Buddington, and a music therapist who aim to make a patient’s experience at the IWK less stressful.
“I had an amazing pregnancy and a great delivery,” recalls Stephanie, mom to two-and-a-half year old Merrick. After Merrick was born everything seemed to be going great but after Merrick turned seven months he experienced his first seizure, followed by others.
Katherine was born at 32 and a half weeks gestation via C-section at the IWK. Immediately upon birth the care team recognized several abnormalities in her – Katherine had one ear different than the other, her chin was small and she had 12 toes.
In March 2017, Jayda—an athletic and active then eleven-year-old—became ill with a fever and started vomiting. The next day, when she began wheezing, Jayda’s parents, Lisa and Brent, rushed her to the IWK emergency department.
