Pyloric Stenosis: Is Your Infant at Risk?

For any parent, the day your child is born can be the single most emotional day of your life. It was certainly that way for me, when, as a first time parent, I had the opportunity to hold my newborn son for the first time. With his first bleary-eyed look into my face I knew I'd lay down my life for him should it ever be necessary. Little did I know that three weeks later I would once again be riding an out of control roller coaster of emotion when he was admitted to the local children's hospital.

Parents (especially us first timers) are famous for reading everything they can get their hands on regarding how to care for their infant. We're known to jump three feet in fear at the first little sneeze or sniffle. We keep our children away from the microwave because we fear it could cause cancer. We layer outfit upon outfit on their tiny bodies in an effort to prevent the slightest chill. We spend thousands of dollars in hopes that "developmental toys" will help our two month old grow smart enough to attend Harvard or MIT and eventually become a neurosurgeon.

My husband and I had done our homework when it came to having a baby. We knew what to expect at every turn. We thought we were completely prepared. It thus came as a complete surprise when our pediatrician suggested our son might have a condition known as pyloric stenosis and would need to be hospitalized immediately. We were shocked and completely terrified. None of our books had ever mentioned pyloric stenosis. It was never explained to us as something to watch for when our son was born. Over the course of the next two weeks we found out more than we ever wanted to know about this little known condition.

Pyloric stenosis occurs in approximately one out of every 250 babies.

Characterized by projectile vomiting and weight loss, the problem is caused when the pylorus (located at the bottom of   the stomach and leading into the intestine) overdevelops, causing the muscle to thicken and essentially cut off the flow of nutrients from the stomach. 

Pyloric stenosis occurs most often in first born, Caucasian male babies, but can occur in children of any sex and any racial background.