Dr. Howard Chilton: Baby's Brains and Responsive Parenting

Public Service Announcement: Would you like to support us ? We are raising money for our NFP and podcast to obtain an office space and podcast recording studio for 2024. Our goal is $10, 000 AUD and any donation big or small is helpful ! If you're interested in supporting us, please email us at [email protected] for more information. If you're not familiar, Check out our work at pbbmedia.org In this interview, Oni Blecher interviews Dr. Howard Chilton has been a neonatologist (a baby’s physician) for over 45 years. He was born in York, England and studied at St Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. After wonderful years in London in the swinging sixties he graduated then interned at Addington Hospital on the beach in Durban, South Africa. Following this, he was accepted for a Senior House Physician appointment in Neonatal Medicine at Harari Hospital in then, Salisbury Rhodesia, now, Harare, Zimbabwe). After more training, Howard eventually obtained paediatric appointments at the Hammersmith Hospital and the Westminster Children’s Hospital, then, after obtaining his MRCP (UK) degree, the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford where he also did a short fellowship. He then became a SHO at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London in the Department of Respiratory Medicine. He did a mandatory Neonatal Fellowship in the US at Denver Children’s Hospital which included two years in a centre of excellence in high tech neonatology including doing neonatal ground and air retrievals, really taught him how to look after the sickest, smallest babies.Before starting this fellowship though, he had a long stopover in Sydney doing locum Respiratory and Paediatric jobs, to check out job prospects. During one job at Prince Henry Hospital he met a beautiful nursing sister called Tamara.At the end of the fellowship, Howard was appointed as the Director of Newborn Services at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney, where he held this position for over twenty years, resigning in 1999 to concentrate on clinical work and parent education. Apart from looking after babies and their parents, Howard now spends a lot of his time talking: to parent groups, or to conferences in Australia and overseas, and to media outlets about ‘responsive parenting’ and the myriad issues which arise for parents when they take their new baby home. He believes knowledge of the biology of the baby can help parents understand and meet their baby’s needs and enables them to relax and enjoy the wonderful experience of parenting.He married Tamara soon after arriving back in Sydney from the USA and she remains the light of his life. They have two daughters, Georgina and Isabella and five grandchildren ! all under 5 years of age. Find out more about Dr. Chilton, including his well renowned books at babydoc.com.au