When I noticed something just was "not right" about my newborn daughter when I brought her home from the hospital, I learned an important lesson: to trust my mother's instinct, that gut feeling.

As families, we know our children better than anyone, we can tell with just a glance or by our child's tone of voice when they don't fell well.

My doctor validated my concerns and sent us directly to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.  I watched in amazement as a team of specialists surrounded Sofina and went right to work to save her life. Later, when Sofina was three she had open heart surgery, and you can see from the picture that she came through with flying colors.

Think of an entire hospital that puts families at the center of their child's care. At Helen DeVos Children's Hospital family-centered care is based on the core idea that the family knows best.

Our doctors and nurses put families at the head of the child's care team. They encourage families to participate in all of the care decisions, to speak up and ask questions.

Most important, we want families to share their wisdom with us. And we encourage as much as possible that families carry on their own traditions, and create as much of a home-like environment as possible.

We encourage parents to "room-in" with the child, have family meals together and provide the basic care of bathing, diaper changing and other duties they do at home.

Can you share a story about how you trusted your gut instinct about your child and it made all the difference?