Family Life and Onset of Puberty: A new study published in the journal Child Development finds that good parental support and low marital conflict are associated with later onset of puberty in girls. Early puberty has been linked with a higher likelihood of mood disorders, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and cancers of the reproductive system. According to one of the researchers: “These results replicate and extend previous longitudinal research indicating that higher levels of positive investment and support in family relationships in preschool predict lower levels of pubertal maturation in daughters in the seventh grade.”

School Readiness and Home Environment: By studying 420 pairs of five-year-old twins, researchers report that environmental factors - such as family resources and income, parental attitude toward learning, and quality of child care arrangements - are associated with school readiness. “Our results have important implications for preventive interventions,” said Michel Boivin, Canada Research Chair in Child Social Development and professor of psychology at Laval University in Quebec City and one of the study’s authors. “They should be seen as a further incentive for continued implementation and evaluation of preventive intervention programs aimed at improving the level of school readiness in children from at-risk families.”

Smoking and Pregnancy: A University of Aberdeen study finds that baby boys of women who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to have abnormal penises and poorly descended or smaller testicles.

Good news, New Yorkers - the infant mortality rate in NY dropped in 2006, from 6.0 to 5.9 per 1,000 births. In the 1990s, New York’s infant mortality rate was twice what it is today. That state’s rate remains below the national average.

What are NY citizens doing right? What can you do to help prevent infant death in your own family?

While not all causes are known and not all deaths can be prevented, here are some tips to lower the risk of experiencing such a loss:

* Plan your pregnancy. Unplanned pregnancies are more likely to result low birth weight, infant death, and poor development.

* Have a regular doctor or health care provider to help you stay healthy.

* If you smoke or use alcohol or drugs, get help to stop.

* Maintain a healthy weight and eat a healthy diet.

* Keep chronic illnesses like diabetes and high blood pressure under control.

* Get help if you are depressed, overly stressed, or abused.

* Take folic acid, which helps prevent serious birth defects.

* Breastfeed your baby. Breastfeeding lowers the risk of acquiring infectious diseases that put a new baby at risk of death. Breastfeeding also lowers the risk of SIDS.

Posted by Sunshine.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Genes: A new study published in the journal Biological Psychiatry finds that a certain gene variant may make some developing babies more vulnerable to fetal alcohol syndrome than others. This would explain why some children whose mothers drink during pregnancy suffer birth defects while others are unharmed. The researchers are also looking at what may be more subtle symptoms of prenatal alcohol exposure, including behavioral problems, such as impulse control, and learning disabilities, such as problems with memory and attention. The working theory is that babies with the short form of the serotonin transporter gene are more vulnerable to alcohol exposure.

A “No-Mommy” Gene? Out of Canada, a Queen’s University researcher has a theory about the current uptick in women who are forgoing motherhood in favor of career and other pursuits. He believes that these women are responding to an inherited drive to pursue fame, economic success, or other pleasures, passed down through the maternal line. Past generations were not given the opportunity to give weight to their genetically-inherited preference for the childless life. But- go figure - the theory holds that the number of women desiring to remain childless should level off and then decrease in future generations because the “I’d rather not be a mother” genetic switches will be bred out of the population.

Yet more reason to quit: A new study published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery finds that smoking half a pack a day while pregnant increases the risk of having a baby with finger or toe deformities by 30%. “One of the things that smoking does is interfere with oxygen delivery to cells at very key moments in development,” explained Dr. Manuel Alvarez, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Hackensack University Medical Center, in New Jersey. “If cells are deprived of oxygen, they don’t proliferate as they should. If cells don’t proliferate, you can have limb deformities.” According to the March of Dimes, roughly one in nine expectant mothers smokes.

She Works Hard for the Milk: Wonder Years child star Fred Savage sat down recently to share some random details about life with his wife Jennifer and their 11-month-old, Oliver. When asked, “What is the oldest thing in your fridge or freezer?” he quipped, “Breast milk. We’ve tried, particularly with the move, to clean out our freezer as much as possible because in the old house, it would get cluttered with so much crap. But the one thing we haven’t been able to throw away is the breast milk — and we should, because it’s over 6 months old. You’re not supposed to keep it frozen for more than that… But I just don’t have the heart to because my wife worked so hard, she pumped every night — it was really hard on her to make this. So we probably have some breast milk from February.” We’re glad that Mr. Savage appreciates that pumping ain’t so easy! (Via Celebrity Baby Blog.)

Hear this:� Research out of the University of Haifa finds that some children who are born deaf and are referred for cochlear implants actually only suffer from temporary deafness and need no interventions: Many parents will say to me: “My child hears; if I call him, he responds.” Nobody listens to them because diagnostic medical equipment did not register any hearing. It seems that these parents are smarter than our equipment, said Prof. Joseph Attias, a neurophysiologist and audiologist in the Department of Communication Disorders at the University of Haifa, who made the discovery.

Autism News: A study out of the University of Missouri-Columbia finds no link between childhood autism and fetal exposure to thimerosal, a mercury preservative, via the Rh immune globulin used to treat women diagnosed with Rh incompatibility.

Nut allergies? A Sydney study, published in the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, found that many children who have been identified as allergic to peanuts may, in fact, safely consume peanuts. The reason for the misdiagnosis is the poor sensitivity of the skin prick test used to check for allergies and sensitivities. Variable results from the tests can occur because of the equipment used, or the amount of pressure�applied by the practitioner administering the tests. To check the accuracy of the test in a safe environment, some children undergo a “peanut challenge”, which�is a controlled experiment involving eating peanuts in a hospital.

Recalling more toy jewelry with lead: Cardinal Distributing Co. of Baltimore, MD, with the Consumer Protection Safety Commission, is yet again recalling lead-infested children�s rings that have been sold in vending machines in the Baltimore area as recently as April. (More on Cardinal Distributing here.)

Spandrel Sales and Marketing Inc., of Tempe, Ariz. and the CPSC are also recalling necklaces and bracelets sold in vending machines nationwide because of high lead content.

The jewelry in both recalls was manufactured in China.

Caffeine and Pregnancy:� Danish researchers have found�that, contrary to the conclusions of previous studies,�decreasing caffeine intake during pregnancy has no apparent effect on birthweight or length of pregnancy.� (For general information on the safety of consuming caffeine during pregnancy, check the March of Dimes site.)

More Reason to Get Your Folic Acid:� We already know that taking folic acid early on during pregnancy greatly reduces the risk of neural tube defects in the developing baby.� Now research suggests�that�folic acid�also cuts the risk of cleft lip.� The risk appeared to be lowest among women who ate a diet rich in folate and took a folic acid supplement plus a multivitamin.

Free Crap Recalled:� Over 43,000 Next Step promotional sippy cups are being recalled�because the impact of being dropped or banged (what are the chances?) can cause the cup to break, leaving sharp edges that are a�laceration hazard.� The company urges parents to take the cups away from the children immediately and throw them out.� For your trouble, the folks at Enfamil will send you a $10 coupon for Next Step Lipil.

“Cyclops” Defect:� Researchers have discovered that a mutation of the TG interacting factor (TGIF) gene causes Holoprosencephaly, a devestating birth defect in which the fetus’ brain does not divide into lobes and severe brain, skull and facial deformaties result.� Babies born with this condition usually have only one eye.�

Mental Health News:� A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Canada finds that single mothers who were previously married are at a higher risk for depressive disorders and substance abuse than single mothers who were never married.� One researcher notes: “The data show that it is important for both researchers and clinicians to recognize that all single parents are not alike. This concept is critical to understanding the context of single parenthood, its potential mental health implications.”

Teether Recall:� The CPSC announced a recall of Bright Starts Teether Beads and Bright Starts Star Teether Beads. The ring that holds the beads together can crack and the loose beads can present a choking hazard.
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Get Your Folic Acid!� According to a report�published in the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, there has been a decline in recent years in the level of the vitamin folate in the blood of women of childbearing years.� Possible reasons include the increase in obesity, as obese people may process folate differently and require more than their non-obese peers, and the popularity of low-carb diets, as fortified cereals and breads are a typical source of the vitamin.�� Folate is crucial for preventing neural tube defects in�developing babies.�� All women of childbearing age are encouraged to get 400 micrograms of folic acid daily, through food and nutritional supplements.

Preemie Trigger?� British women now rank #1 in Europe in premature births.� Researchers believe that the stress of working until late in pregnancy may be an important contributing factor.

Perhaps this baby is The One:� Laurence Fishburn (aka Morpheus) and his�wife, actress�Gina Torres (of FOX’s Standoff), are expecting their first child together.� Mr. Fishburn has two children from a previous marriage.

Alcohol and Pregnancy:� Researchers are studying whether�drinking during pregnancy puts baby boys at a greater risk�of having undescended testicles.� Because boys with this condition are much more likely than their peers to be infertile as adults, the researchers�are further looking at whether alcohol consumption by pregnant women could be in any way responsible for declining fertility rates in Western countries.

Go Badgers!� Anyone who interferes with a woman’s right to breastfeed her infant in the Madison area now faces a fine, thanks to a county-wide ordinance just enacted.

Ugh:� Singer/actor Tyrese Gibson is facing a criminal investigation after he allegedly punched his three months pregnant girlfriend during a heated argument.�

Last month we reported on the medical technology where couples are using embryo testing to weed out�any diseases in the embryos such as Cystic Fibrosis and Sickle Cell Anemia before they are implanted.� Some fear this technology could be used to choose a baby’s eye or hair color in the quest for the “perfect” baby.

Here’s a new spin on this growing technology.� Some are using embryo testing, or more specifically preimplantation genetic diagnosis (P.G.D.), to select embryos that actually carry genetic mutations such as deafness or dwarfism.� A recent survey reveals that 3 percent of American P.G.D. clinics reported that they used P.G.D. “to select an embryo for the presence of a disability.”

Some doctors refuse to allow their patients to use�P.G.D. for this purpose.� �If we make a diagnostic tool, the purpose is to avoid disease.�

I agree, but I’m afraid once you create a tool for one purpose it’s only a matter of time before the tool is exploited for other purposes.� Cloning comes to mind.�

It seems to me that once we start playing God by using technology to help us choose�our babies it throws off the balance of the universe.� I wish we could go back to the day of allowing fate to choose our babies for us, the way nature intended it.

Posted by Pager12.