Bring on the Bookmobiles: American fourth graders are slipping behind other children in the world regarding their reading skills. Tests compare 45 different countries worldwide. The countries who jumped over the US, Russia, Hong Kong and Singapore, all initiated programs specifically to increase reading abilities. America still is considered on the high end of “intermediate” level, however it only reinforces what we already know… the importance of encouraging our children to read.

Autism and gray matter: Recent studies show that children with autism have “enlarged gray matter in the parietal lobes of the brain linked to the mirror neuron system of cells associated with empathy, emotional experience and learning through sight.” Understanding this could be a key for the future - doctors may be able to develop ways to strengthen mirror neurons and make them work properly. Autism affects about 1.5 million people in the US.

Pregnancy Scans: In the past decade, scans during pregnancy have increased by over 100%. Abdominal ultrasounds, routinely performed during pregnancy, do not expose the patient to ionizing radiation, which can cause cell damage. Other scans, such as CAT scans and X-rays, are riskier. A proper diagnosis is important to mom’s health, but discuss with your doctor the risks and perhaps consider other testing options if possible.

Pre-eclampsia linked to later heart disease: Two new British studies link the pregnancy condition pre-eclampsia with developing heart disease later in life. The first study finds that women who have had pre-eclampsia during pregnancy have a twofold risk of heart disease, and “women with a history of pre-eclampsia had an almost fourfold risk of high blood pressure and a twofold risk of fatal or non-fatal ischaemic heart disease, stroke and blood clots in later life.” The second study shows that doctors could predict which women were at risk of developing pre-eclampsia based on certain risk factors. Women with high pre-pregnancy blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels had a seven times greater risk of developing pre-eclampsia than those who did not. Overweight or obese women, and women with a family history of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes were also at a greater risk, and those women who took the pill before pregnancy reduced their risk.

Like mother like child: A new study suggests that excess weight in the mother before and during pregnancy may influence a child’s tendency to be fat. Mothers with higher body-mass index before pregnancy and a larger upper-arm circumference later in pregnancy correlated with the child’s height-adjusted fat mass measurements. Likewise, mothers with a lower body-mass index before pregnancy and a smaller upper-arm circumference later in pregnancy correlated to children with less body fat. “Further research is needed to determine if this association is from the effect of a mother’s excess weight prior to pregnancy; the effect of a mother’s lifestyle on that of her child; or a genetic factor passed from mother to child.”

More heavy news: A mother’s body-mass index at the time she becomes pregnant correlates with symptoms like hyperactivity and concentration problems in the child, says a new study. In addition, being overweight before pregnancy and gaining a considerable amount of weight during pregnancy comes with greater risks than being of normal weight and experiencing the same weight gain. “The next step for these scientists is to study whether there is a causal connection between the mothers’ obesity and symptoms in the child and, if so, what this is due to. One plausible explanation is that the risk of complications during pregnancy is greater among overweight women…It is also possible that both the mother’s obesity and the child’s symptoms are the result of genetic factors.”

This is offensive? Facebook, the popular social networking site, issued a statement addressing the recent dust-up over its removal of certain breastfeeding photographs it deemed offensive: “Facebook does allow mothers to upload and share photos of themselves breastfeeding their babies, and those photos remain available on Facebook as long as they follow the site’s Terms of Use. Photos containing a fully exposed breast do violate those Terms and could be removed.”

Bumper Pads and Baby Safety: A new study out of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis concludes that the risks associated with bumper pads in cribs, which include accidental death, outweigh their possible benefits. In reviewing databased kept by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the team found 27 bumper pad-related infant deaths occurring between 1985 and 2005, of which 11 were caused by suffocation when babies rested their faces against the bumpers, 13 resulted from babies becoming wedged between the pads and other objects, and three were attributed to strangulation on bumper pad ties. One expert in infant deaths offered, “I don’t think bumper pads are doing any good…Although the deaths and injuries may be rare events, they are preventable by eliminating the use of bumper pads.”

Prenatal Testing Innovations: According to a report in the journal Analytical Chemistry, Stanford University researchers are developing a test for Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities that will produce results in two hours. Conventional tests now take two weeks.

Hand Soap? This is just wrong…

Breastfeeding Ban on Base? A new mom who works in food services at Fort Bragg wants to make sure that all nursing mothers know their rights. This, after an anonymous person complained that she was breastfeeding her three-month-old in the food court area during her break. Tabitha Redding says she breastfed her other children in mini-mall and never faced a complaint before, noting, “I’ve always been modest about it. I’m trying to make myself as comfortable as the other people.” Nevertheless, the complaint sparked a notice from her boss, ordering her to stop nursing her baby at the mall because, he said, the Army and Air Force Exchange Services, which manages military malls, bans it. Her boss later said that he miscommunicated. Under federal law, women in the US may breastfeed their babies in public.
(Via DaddyTypes.)

Prenatal Testing and Politics: Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) have reintroduced the Pre-natally and Post-natally Diagnosed Conditions Awareness Act, which aims to “amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the provision of scientifically sound information and support services to patients receiving a positive test diagnosis for Down syndrome or other prenatally diagnosed conditions.” (Via Jaden’s Journal.)

Tired Tiger? Golf instructor Butch Harmon shared some thoughts about how new fatherhood is affecting Tiger Woods’ game (Mr. Woods and his wife, Elin, welcomed baby Sam earlier this month): “I saw him play a lot of holes up close. I saw him hit some brilliant shots and then saw some terrible ones. I don’t think he had the preparation that he would normally have for a major championship with the birth of his daughter. I think he’s in a different place in his life now…Talking to him on the practice areas, though, left me in no doubt that he’s still extremely happy. He’s really loving being a dad. The arrival of his baby is going to make him a better person. In the long term it will make him a better golfer, giving him a wonderful outlet away from the game.”

Down Syndrome, Early Detection, and Abortion: Research presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics finds that the introduction of noninvasive prenatal screening, consisting of an ultrasound and maternal blood test, has reduced the number of children with Down syndrome born in Denmark by 50% while also reducing the number of women undergoing invasive procedures such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (since women who do not test positive for Down syndrome with the noninvasive procedure are more likely to forgo further tests).

PGD News: Also presented at the European Society of Human Genetics conference is research that finds that preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), or genetic testing of embryos prior to implantation, does not result in babies with malformations at a higher rate than artificial reproduction technologies without PGD.

Don’t Hassle the Hoff: David Hasselhoff, currently of America’s Got Talent and previously of Baywatch and Knight Rider, was awarded primary custody of his two teenage daughters. His ex-wife has visitation rights. Mr. Hasselhoff had been temporarily blocked from seeing his daughters because of drunken video footage of the actor that had surfaced in May. Of the recent turn of events, Mr. Hasselhoff quipped that it was “”a beautiful day to go to the beach.” If this is not enough Hoff for you, our own mctex recently pointed us to this, her favorite music video of late.

HIV and Pregnancy:� Georgia now has a law on the books that requires doctors to offer pregnant women HIV screening tests. According to the bill’s sponsors, around 1/4 of pregnant women in Georgia are not tested for HIV because their doctors do not believe they are at high risk for the virus.� With treatment, the risk of passing HIV to a developing baby in utero can be reduced to between 1 and 3%.

Alcohol and Premature Birth: Researchers out of Wayne State University report that use of alcohol during pregnancy can substantially increase a woman’s risk of extreme preterm delivery. The risks appear to be even greater for women over 30 years old. However, as the patient population of the study was 92% African American, the lead researcher notes that the results will have to be verified in further studies with other ethnic groups.

Recall News:� The CPSC issued a recall of Invincibles Transport Converters Toy Sets, by Soldier Bear, because the toy action figures contain high levels of lead. The toy soldier set was manufactured in Hong Kong.  Also recalled are certain ball rattles, wrist rattles, and wind-up toys sold in dollar stores in California over the past couple years because they pose a choking hazard (check the links for pictures of the hazardous toys).

Building on its story about genetic testing and Down syndrome, the New York Times asks the question that is already rattling the abortion debate and will only become a more pressing issue with time:  If one is pro-choice, does that mean pro-choice regardless of how and why the choice to terminate is made� And if so, does natural human diversity become endangered� The Times notes that roughly 90% of all pregnant women whose babies screen positive for Down syndrome elect for an abortion. And now the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that all pregnant women be screened for Down syndrome, a move that columnist George Will, who has an adult son with Down syndrome, called a “search-and-destroy mission” to eliminate a segment of the population deemed unworthy of life:

Nothing- nothing - in the professional qualifications of obstetricians and gynecologists gives them standing to adopt policies that predictably will have, and seem intended to have, the effect of increasing abortions in the service of an especially repulsive manifestation of today’s entitlement mentality�every parent’s “right” to a perfect baby.

Down syndrome is only the beginning. The Times article notes that studies show many women already choose to terminate pregnancies over less serious conditions. In some parts of the world, aborting female fetuses is rampant as couples strive for that all-important male baby. What happens if and when we can screen for sexuality, IQ, and athletic ability� Or what if I just really want a blue-eyed child� Does pro-choice mean supporting abortion�on demand regardless of why a mother wants to terminate a pregnancy?

…Kirsten Moore, president of the pro-choice Reproductive Health Technologies Project, said that when members of her staff recently discussed whether to recommend that any prenatal tests be banned, they found it impossible to draw a line -  even at sex selection, which almost all found morally repugnant.  “We all had our own zones of discomfort but still couldn’t quite bring ourselves to say, ‘Here’s the line, firm and clear’ because that is the core of the pro-choice philosophy,” she said. “You can never make that decision for someone else.”

And so, the article notes, two�traditional “liberal values” - right to choose and tolerance for difference - are on a collision course.

(more…)

For Rosemary and Sean (in this video segment accompanying a NYT article), the future was a blank.  Neither their doctor nor their genetic counselor knew of anyone with Down syndrome, and the available literature on the condition was either too clinical or too “warm and fuzzy” and contrived.  They wanted a clearer picture of what the future would hold for them.

So they were set up with Troy and his family. Troy, his parents, and his two older siblings volunteer with the National Down Syndrome Society.  They invite families who receive a Down syndrome diagnosis for their unborn child to spend the day with their family.  Jane, Troy’s mom, offers, “It’s just to say, hey, come meet my son, we have kind of a normal family, you know, we love each other, hate each other…it’s great.”  She admits that she has more to juggle than the typical mom, in terms of doctors’ and therapists’ appointments, and that Down syndrome “brings its own different issues, but every child has issues…having three, I realize, and sometimes I even say he’s the easiest out of all my three kids.”

A few months ago we looked at the issue of how doctors and genetic counselors “break the news” to new parents that their unborn baby has tested positive for Down syndrome.  Most often, parents were given a gloomy picture of what their child would be able to accomplish, and the subtle or overt message was that termination was the recommended course.  Parents of children with Down syndrome have been working to educate those in the medical profession, most of whom have no regular contact with people who have Down syndrome, so that they can give parents a more balanced picture of what life is like for families who live with the condition.

And now, some families are taking it further by bringing their children in to speak with the doctors and counselors themselves.  Many are also asking those in the medical profession to refer prospective parents whose babies have screened positive for Down syndrome directly to them before they make a decision about whether or not to seek abortions.

In general, the families’ motives are pretty straightforward:  They take delight in�their children, and they are alarmed that a Down syndrome diagnosis so often seems to be a trigger for pregnancy termination.  (Roughly 90% of all women who learn that they are carrying a baby with Down syndrome undergo abortions.)  There is a practical side to the movement, too:� Fewer people with Down syndrome means less medical research, less institutional support, and perhaps a lonelier�existence for those who remain.

Rosemary and Sean’s daughter Sophia is now one and a half.  They counsel other families who learn of  Down syndrome diagnosis.

Posted by MommaSteph.

Magnet Toy Warning: The CPSC is putting the call out to parents to be aware of numerous recent cases where children have swallowed small magnets from toys and have required emergency surgery (and sadly, one 20-month-old boy died).� �Here are their recommendations:

• Seek prompt medical attention if you suspect your child may have swallowed a magnet
• Look for non-specific abdominal symptoms: abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
• Note that objects in x-rays may appear as a single object that could actually be multiple magnetic pieces separated by trapped intestinal walls
• Keep small magnets and small pieces containing magnets away from young children who might mistakenly or intentionally swallow them
• Look out for loose magnetic pieces - regularly inspect toys and children’s play areas for missing or dislodged magnets.

Smoking and Pregnancy: A study of 1,500+ pregnant women out of Mailman School of Public Health found that almost 22% of the group smoked, and more than 10% were nicotine dependent. 30% of the smokers were found to have a mental disorder. “While the study showed the strongest association between nicotine dependence and prolonged depression, it also demonstrated significant associations between nicotine dependence and panic disorder and major depressive disorder. Thus, there is an urgent need for outreach programs to effectively deal with both nicotine addiction and mental health disorders in conjunction with prenatal care.”

Pass the Popcorn:  Researchers out of Duke University report that parents-to-be may soon don 3D glasses at their ultrasounds to get a more fleshed out peek at their growing babies.�The team developed an updated version of the viewing software that allows for “stereo imaging” - that is, two shots of the same object from slightly different angles (the way our eyes take in objects).  The special glasses then fuse the images into one, and the end result is a 3D effect.

What’s in a name?  Melanie Brown, a.k.a. Scary Spice, apparently has no doubt about how her newborn’s paternity test will turn out. Ms. Brown has always insisted that actor Eddie Murphy is the father, and she underscored that conviction when she named her new daughter Angel Iris Murphy Brown.  “Angel, as she was my little angel through my pregnancy,” she said. “Iris, as it’s my grandma’s name, Murphy because he’s the dad and Brown because I’m the mum!”

Wha? A study out of New York University finds that infants as young as four months old will stare for longer periods at “impossible” three dimensional images than at similar but “possible” ones (just as adults do), indicating that at this young age babies are able to perceive three dimensional shape information from flat images.

Horsing Around Is Healthy: A study finds that horseplay may be critical to emotional and social development. Rats that are deprived of opportunities for rough and tumble play grow up with no understanding of rat social structure; when introduced into the rat pack, they behave inappropriately and draw attention - and violent attacks - to themselves. Play deprived rats also are less coordinated, which impairs their abilities to defend themselves and mate.

Mum’s the word: In case you’re wondering whether you should pick up pink or blue booties for crooner and mom-to-be Charlotte Church, you’ll just have to wait. Reportedly, Ms. Church has declined to find out the sex of her baby, even though the baby’s father, her boyfriend Gavin Henson, reportedly “is keen to know.”