Pediatricians are here for you in this chaotic time

Pediatricians understand, perhaps better than anyone, the profound sense of responsibility that comes over a parent the moment they first hold their newborn in their arms. Along with the joys and milestones that mark a child’s life, we also understand the worries and anxieties that accompany them. As pediatricians, we are privileged to be entrusted with families' most personal concerns — a privilege and a trust which we never take for granted.

Today's parents are inundated with information and advice about their child's health, some of it inaccurate or misleading, particularly when it comes to vaccines. Too often, before we even meet a family for their first newborn visit, seeds of fear and doubt have already been planted.

It is our job as pediatricians to plant different seeds — of compassion, patience, knowledge and trust, so children can grow up healthy and parents can feel confident in the care they choose.

In recent months, that job has become exponentially more challenging. Parents are coming to our offices with unprecedented levels of anxiety. I recently visited with parents worried they might have harmed their 5-month-old baby in some way because they had given her Tylenol when she had a fever. I had a mother message me beside herself that she might have caused her son's autism. I had a family cancel a trip to Texas, understandably afraid to expose their too-young-to-be-vaccinated baby to measles. I've had patients worry that vaccines for their babies might go away. Their concerns and anxiety have been fueled by misinformation that is now being amplified by some of the most influential platforms in the country, threatening to erode the very foundation of trust on which pediatrics depends.

I write today not to explain why we advise that newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, or why Tylenol can safely be given to young children and infants if needed in recommended doses. I'm not here to restate, yet again, that vaccines do not cause autism, that the MMR vaccine is safe, or that the measles outbreak we’re now seeing — the worst in more than three decades — stems directly from falling immunization rates. Nor am I here to explain that children's immune systems can capably handle multiple vaccines given at once, or that the vaccine schedule is specifically designed to protect babies when they're most vulnerable.

While all of those are important conversations, I am here to say that your pediatrician is here for you. We understand that parents want to make the right decisions for their children, and that the conflicting information they encounter can feel overwhelming. Science should not be politicized, and decisions about children's health must be grounded in evidence, not ideology or the loudest voices on social media.

As pediatricians, we want parents to understand the basis of our recommendations. We want to answer their questions, hear their worries and address their concerns. We want to share the information we have and the knowledge that comes from years of experience so that parents can feel comfortable with the decisions they make for their children.

Because at the core of pediatrics is trust — a partnership between parents and doctors built on shared purpose, mutual respect and the heartfelt goal of helping every child grow and thrive in safety and good health.

This guest essay reflects the views of Dr. Eve Meltzer Krief, vice president of the Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.