Why is the health of a child's gut so central to their overall health — and what can parents actually do about it?

In this episode of Pediatric Perspectives, Dr. Paul is joined by Michelle Perro, M.D., an integrative pediatrician and author of the new book Making Our Children Well: A Parent’s Guidebook. Dr. Perro returns to the show to talk through why the microbiome matters so much for infants and young children, how families can approach testing and probiotics without guesswork, and what her recent infant formula research uncovered.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why keystone gut microbes like Bifidobacteria infantis matter for a baby's developing immunity
• How parents and pediatricians can approach microbiome testing, and what it costs
• Why the first three years of life are a key window for restoring the microbiome
• A "start low and slow" approach to choosing and introducing probiotics
• Everyday, low-cost ways to reduce hidden environmental burdens on children's health
• What Dr. Perro's infant formula testing found, and the California bill that followed

A doctor who treated measles on the ground in Texas, and a pediatrician forced to answer for the vaccine schedule himself — this episode covers both sides of the story.

In this episode, I'm joined by Ben Edwards, M.D., founder and medical director of Veritas Medical, who treated children directly during the Texas measles outbreak. Then Polly Tommey sits down with me to ask the questions parents are actually asking about the MMR vaccine. I'm answering them.

In this episode, we cover:

• What measles actually looks like on the ground, from a doctor who treated it firsthand in Gaines County
• Why budesonide, delivered by nebulizer, worked so well for measles pneumonitis
• Nutrition, cod liver oil, and vitamin A dosing to build a child's resilience before and during illness
• Warning signs that mean it's time for the emergency room
• What's actually in the MMR vaccine, and what changed in the package insert
• The financial incentives built into the childhood vaccine schedule
• The 1986 Immunization Act, liability, and how measles death risk compares to reported vaccine death risk

A pro-vaccine mother of one sat down with me and asked the questions most parents are afraid to ask out loud.

A mother of a nine-month-old came to this conversation already pro-vaccine, having read Vax Facts, and she wanted to press me directly on the questions that keep so many parents up at night. I welcomed it. This episode is that full conversation, unscripted and unfiltered.

In this episode, we cover:

• Trust and bias on both sides of the vaccine conversation
• Why no childhood vaccine has ever been tested against a true saline placebo
• How the 1986 Childhood Immunization Act removed liability from vaccine manufacturers
• How the clinical definition of polio changed alongside the vaccine's introduction
• The financial incentives built into a pediatric practice
• My own published study comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated patients
• Why isolating vaccines from other health variables is so difficult
• What parents told me about the guilt and isolation of this decision

What is the real risk of pertussis compared to the vaccine designed to prevent it — and what happens when a family isn't given the space to say no?

In this episode of Pediatric Perspectives, I was joined by Kari Bundy, a health freedom advocate whose son Mason died three days after his four-month vaccines, and by Polly Tommey, who turned the interview around to ask me about pertussis, the DTaP/Tdap vaccine, and SIDS. Kari's story is a hard one, but it's the kind of story parents deserve to hear before they're standing in an exam room being told their baby needs a shot right now.

In this episode, we cover:

• Kari Bundy's account of the pressure she and her husband faced to vaccinate her son Mason at his four-month checkup, despite his recent illness
• What happened in the days following Mason's DTaP (Pentacel) vaccine, and the loss the family experienced
• How Kari approached her next son's whooping cough differently, and what she used to support his recovery
• Kari's advice to parents on decision-making from a place of calm rather than fear
• My own clinical perspective on acellular pertussis vaccine effectiveness and comparative death-risk data
• The connection between SIDS, the Back to Sleep program, and the timing of infant deaths relative to vaccination

Sunburns, tetanus myths, water safety, and a homeopathic first-aid kit: Dr. Larry Palevsky's practical guide to a healthy summer outdoors.

Dr. Larry Palevsky, a practicing pediatrician, returns to With the Wind to talk through the summer season with Dr. Paul: sun exposure, tetanus, fireworks, water safety, diet, and a home first-aid kit built around homeopathy.

In this episode, we cover:

• Sun exposure, sunburn prevention, and an antioxidant-supportive diet for skin
• Tetanus: how the bacteria actually grows, and when a booster is and isn't needed
• Firework, burn, and water safety for the summer season
• Diet, screen time, and the value of unstructured outdoor free play
• A homeopathic and tissue-salt first-aid kit for common summer mishaps

What does it look like to raise unvaccinated children with confidence — navigating hospitals, schools, and community while staying grounded in your choices?

I'm joined this week by Katherine Sigblad, host of the Mom's Off the Record podcast and mother of two unvaccinated children in Florida. Katherine brings the perspective of a mom who has thought deeply about these choices — not from theory, but from lived experience. Her eight-week-old daughter's hospital visit tested everything she believed about navigating the medical system, and she came through it with insights worth sharing.

Show Notes:

With the Wind with Dr. Paul — Show 207: Pediatric Perspectives: Unvaccinated Kids, Parents Challenges with Katherine Sigblad

Host: Dr. Paul Thomas

Guest: Katherine Sigblad Host of Mom's Off the Record podcast; mother of two unvaccinated children

Series: Pediatric Perspectives

Length: Approximately 27 minutes

Summary

In this episode of With the Wind with Dr. Paul, Dr. Paul Thomas is joined by Katherine Sigblad, host of the Mom's Off the Record podcast and mother of two unvaccinated children in Florida. Katherine shares her family's journey with holistic health — from the early influence of a "crunchy" uncle who taught her to question the status quo at age ten, to the hospital experience with her eight-week-old daughter that tested her confidence and her boundaries. The conversation covers navigating the medical system without apologizing for your choices, the reality of vaccine shedding at school, finding community when you don't agree on everything, and practical strategies for raising children who think for themselves.

Key Points

• 00:00:41 — Opening, CHD welcome, and guest introduction
• 00:02:04 — Katherine's path to holistic health: learning about GMOs, antibiotics, and questioning the status quo starting at age ten
• 00:04:02 — Hospital experience with her eight-week-old unvaccinated daughter: home remedies first, trusting maternal discernment, and knowing when to go in
• 00:08:24 — Confronting a shaming doctor: standing ground without debating when your child's care is the priority
• 00:10:09 — False positive UTI test leading to unnecessary IV antibiotics — and the gut-healing work that followed
• 00:12:28 — Recovery and healing: GAPS diet, meat stock, ferments, and the importance of never leaving a child alone in the hospital
• 00:17:14 — Sending unvaccinated children to school: Florida exemptions, vaccine shedding realities, and choosing not to live in fear
• 00:19:04 — Dr. Paul explains which vaccines shed: live virus vaccines including MMR, varicella, rotavirus, and the COVID shot
• 00:21:31 — Parenting challenges: finding community when you don't agree on every topic — and why it's worth doing anyway
• 00:24:02 — Raising critical thinkers: open-ended questions, Tuttle Twins, Brave Books, and letting kids decompress before engaging
• 00:26:28 — Katherine's podcast info, St. John's wort and baking soda bath tips, and closing thoughts

Quote

"I really do believe that when we set a healthy foundation with sunshine, rest, happy, authentic human connections in person, and of course food, that when we do encounter sickness of any sort, we're more resilient, it's less intense." — Katherine Sigblad

Resources

• Mom's Off the Record Podcast https://momsofftherecordpod.com/
• Mom's Off the Record on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2T8qib3YPpHtwPIcIzvGOX
• Mom's Off the Record on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-off-the-record/id1665488006
• The Defender (Children's Health Defense) https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/
• Doctors and Science https://doctorsandscience.com

Disclaimer

The information shared in this episode is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. It does not establish a doctor–patient relationship. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding medical decisions.