Nicotine Patch and Pregnancy: A UK study is currently recruiting 1000+ expecting women to test the safety of nicotine patch use during pregnancy. Newly pregnant women who smoke will be invited to participate, and half will receive the patch, half a placebo. They will receive support for dealing with cravings and avoiding smoking. The women will be followed throughout their pregnancies, and their children’s cognitive development and respiratory health will be studied until they are two.

Slimmed-Down Mom, Big Baby? Researchers have known for some time that overweight women are likely to have large babies, but a new study finds that even when large women lose weight before subsequent pregnancies, they tend to have big babies. It may be that extra weight can have long-term effects on future pregnancies, the research team speculates. Large babies are more likely to suffer birth trauma or to require C-sections for delivery.

It’s a (Backstreet) Boy: Former Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson and his wife Kristen welcomed a baby boy this past Tuesday. Little Mason weighed in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and 20 and 1/2 inches long. Here’s a little trivia: The proud parents met back in 1993 at Disney World, where she danced in the Beauty and the Beast show and he was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.