January 2020

If a parent has cancer, are children better protected if they’re shielded from the truth? No, say the books in a three-volume series that Hope & Cope has published to explain how to broach the subject with a combination of frankness and compassion.

While some new mothers are still treated for postpartum depression, more emphasis is now given to mental disorders throughout pregnancy. Dr. Barbara Hayton, in our Perinatal Mental Health Clinic, helps future moms cope with everything from anxiety to suicidal thoughts.

Several types of fatal pediatric brain tumours originate during early brain development, Dr. Claudia Kleinman, of the Lady Davis Institute, and her collaborators have discovered. The genetic event that triggers the disease probably occurs in prenatal cellular development.

Individuals with cancer need to be perceived primarily as people, and not as cases or a collection of symptoms. That’s the focus of a research paper whose JGH co-authors have been honoured with a Best Publication award by the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology.

Leaders and staff of the JGH and CIUSSS West-Central Montreal extend their heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Senator E. Leo Kolber, who died on January 9 after a distinguished career in politics and business.

Obstetrical Ultrasound is celebrating 30 years of stand-alone service at the JGH, independent of Radiology. It performs about 13,000 scans on at least 3,900 women a year for routine fetal development and possible high-risk complications.