October is SIDS Awareness Month. For the latest on SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), including information and advice for new and expecting parents, research on SIDS prevention, and support for grieving families, check out First Candle, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for SIDS prevention.

Hope for Short Cervix Preggos: A new study published in the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology concludes that vaginal treatment with a progesterone gel may reduce the risk of preterm birth, and improve overall infant outcomes, in women with short cervices. For this study, 46 women at high risk for preterm delivery because of short cervix were followed. Half were treated with PROCHIEVE 8%, half were given a placebo. Of the treated group, one in six newborns was admitted to the NICU after birth, vs. one in two of the placebo group. Furthermore, of the babies whose moms received the progesterone gel who were admitted to a NICU, the average stay was one day, vs. two weeks for the babies in the placebo group.

TTC Superstitions… On Oprah yesterday, Halle Berry talked about her lengthly quest to get pregnant: “I’m sort of superstitious, so I saved all of the negative [pregnancy] tests in a drawer…Don’t ask! I don’t know why, but I did. … After about 35 tests, we finally got a positive test.”