Connected Paediatrics Weekly: Soft skills, hard wins

Hi Reader

Dad Joke: Mrs. Goat: “Honey, we’re going to have a baby!” Mr. Goat: “You’re kidding.”

Song of the Week: Alex Warren - Ordinary

I’m not sure if I have told you but my father is a chiropractor. It’s kind of in our blood. But not just chiropractic…paediatrics.

Dr. Lionel Marinus was one of the first chiropractors in South Africa to see babies in practice. We used to have “baby hour” where they would all arrive en masse. I loved those mornings. For the parents it was a get together…they even ordered in coffees from the local café!

But the reason I am telling you this is to give you context to a story he told me that I want to share with you.

A mum of a baby he had been seeing for a while came into the practice one day and told him that they “needed to talk”. She explained that she had been to the local paediatrician and had explained that she had been coming here with her baby and had been finally seeing a change in her child.

As the story goes the paed got a bit riled up and told her dismissively that the chiropractor isn’t doing anything for her child and that all that is happening is that he is holding the baby with confidence and telling her, the mum, that she is doing a good job and then because she feels better now the baby feels better.

My Dad was a bit stunned at this and asked the mum “…and what did you say to that?”

To which she replied “Well…I told him that if you knew that worked then why didn’t you do it?!”

Of course we know the neurology behind why the care the baby received would have calmed the nervous system and how the suck would have improved and the diaphragm and pelvic floor would have worked with more synergy allowing the core to stabilize the child yadda yadda…

However…

The paediatrician was right in one very important respect.

“Research consistently shows that when parents feel confident in their abilities, they are better equipped to handle challenges, leading to more positive engagement with their children and fostering stronger relationships that support better developmental outcomes for children” – Stock et al. 2025

Don’t underestimate the power of putting the parent in the driver’s seat. I firmly believe that that is often the difference between a negative and a positive outcome. And how do we do this? Inform them. Give them the data they need and show them what changes to look out for, how to manage stress in their children and how to make sure they get enough self care.

Soft skills = Hard Wins

Chat Soon

Mike

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