Miranda Kerr Confirms Pregnancy

Miranda Kerr is expecting her first child with her husband Orlando Bloom! the Victoria's Secret model has confirmed the news in the September issue of Spanish Vogue.

"Yes, I'm pregnant. Four months along," Kerr, 27, tells the mag (via The Daily Mail).

The normally tight-lipped supermodel -- who wed Bloom in a quiet ceremony in July -- recently opened up about her nuptials in Sydney's Morning Herald.

"It was exactly what we both hoped for and it turned out as planned in every way," she gushed. "We always intended for the wedding to be a private and intimate occasion and we haven't shared any details as it is something we'd like to keep as our special secret."

And as she and Bloom, 33, anxiously await the arrival of their first child, Kerr says she's already planning to continue modeling after the baby is born.

"I've always been open about wanting to be a mother one day, and I've always thought Orlando would be a great dad," Kerr said. "I think having children and pregnancy is a part of life, I look at how models like Heidi Klum, Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio have done it and made it a part of their lives."

Source

New Parent Survival Tips

Think of becoming a parenthood as starting a job. In time, you'll learn the skills, such as changing diapers and giving baths. However, it could take weeks or even months to feel like you've mastered it all. Tricia O'Brien, Features Editor for American Baby Magazine gives first time parents advice on how to get a handle on their new occupation.

In the first week focus on feeding. You might struggle with breastfeeding. It can be really hard at first but there is hope. Take it one step at a time. Work on getting the baby to latch on correctly. Have a lactation consultant come to your home. And don't be afraid to admit that breastfeeding is hard.

Week two it is time to find ways to get your sleep because by now you are exhausted. You're feeding the baby every 2-3 hours (if you're nursing) and every 3-4 hours (if you're formula feeding) which means waking up 2-3 times a night. Also, even though newborns sleep a lot (16 to 18 hours), some don't do it at the "right" times. Nap when the baby does or map your bedtime to the baby's. If you're formula feeding, alternate late-night feedings with your spouse. Breastfeeding moms can pump after a month or so, so Dad can help. Wake your child during the day if he sleeps more than four hours at a stretch, but keep the lights dim, even during diaper changes. Ask for help and accept any that's offered. If it is not baby related, like housekeeping, let it slide.

By week three you are trying to find a way to juggle it all. But, caring for a baby is time-consuming. With the feedings, diaper changes, and laundry it's hard to get anything else done. And most spouses have headed back to work and a visiting grandma may have packed up her bags. So, the thing to do now is be realistic about what you can accomplish. Set one non-baby-related goal every day, like doing a load of laundry, making a phone call, or writing two thank you notes.

In week four you probably will be settling into a routine. Even though things are getting into a groove, you may be coming to terms with things that didn't go as expected. You might have had to give in and supplement with formula and/or use a pacifier. You also may feel isolated from long stretches at home alone with baby. Make an effort to get out at least once a day, even if it's just a walk around the block. Also, surround yourself with other new moms by joining a new mommy group.

Source

Add diet soda to the list of things to avoid while pregnant

There are so many things you're not supposed to eat or drink when you're pregnant - sushi, Caesar salad, blue cheese, lox and,, of course, alcohol. Now researchers have added a new item to that list - diet soda.

It seems that regular consumption of carbonated beverages made with artificial sweeteners significantly increases the risk of preterm delivery (defined as giving birth after fewer than 37 weeks of pregnancy). Women who drank at least one diet soda per day were 38% more likely to have their baby early compared to women who abstained. For women who drank at least four diet sodas each day, the increased risk was 78%, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

These risks were calculated based on data from 59,334 pregnancies that were tracked in Denmark between 1996 and 2002. Women in the study were asked to complete a food frequency questionnaire about halfway through their pregnancies. The timing of their births was recorded in the Danish Civil Registration System.

The researchers found no link between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and risk of preterm delivery, suggesting that some component of artificial sweeteners is to blame. Noncarbonated diet drinks also weren't associated with an increased risk of preterm delivery, probably because those drinks contained much lower levels of artificial sweeteners (only about one-half to one-third as much aspartame and acesulfame-K as in carbonated diet drinks, according to the study).

For the sake of comparison, using the same dataset the researchers calculated that women who smoked every day were 21% more likely than nonsmokers to deliver their babies early.

Source

Cord Blood Treats Ailing "Lion King" Star

The 11-year-old actress who starred as Nala in the Broadway hit "The Lion King" has undergone a potentially lifesaving procedure.

Shannon Tavarez, who has leukemia, received an umbilical-cord blood transplant August 17th at Long Island Jewish Hospital.

The procedure was performed as an alternative to a bone-marrow transplant. Her doctor said a perfect bone-marrow match for her could not be found.

A family friend said Shannon will remain in the hospital under observation for doctors to ensure that her body does not reject the transplant.

She was forced to quit the show in April. Cast members held a marrow-donor registration drive for her last month.

Source

25% off Umi Shoes

Umi Shoes is offering 25% off their adorable shoes through August 26th. All you have to do is enter candy25 at checkout.

Umi creates adorable shoes for babies and toddlers, made with high-quality nappa and nubuck leather and non-toxic materials. Their shoes have been seen on the children of celebrities such as Tori Spelling, Candace Cameron, Jennifer Garner, Kelly Ripa, and Jessica Alba.

Read a review of Umi Shoes here.

Study links pesticides to attention problems

Children whose mothers were exposed to certain types of pesticides while pregnant were more likely to have attention problems as they grew up, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, adds to evidence that organophosphate pesticides can affect the human brain.

Researchers at the University of California Berkeley tested pregnant women for evidence that organophosphate pesticides had actually been absorbed by their bodies, and then followed their children as they grew.

Women with more chemical traces of the pesticides in their urine while pregnant had children more likely to have symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, at age 5, the researchers found.

"While results of this study are not conclusive, our findings suggest that prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides may affect young children's attention," Amy Marks and colleagues wrote in the study, available at ehponline.org/article/info:doi/10.1289/ehp.1002234.

Organophosphates are designed to attack the nervous systems of bugs by affecting message-carrying chemicals called neurotransmitters including acetylcholine, which is important to human brain development.

The researchers tested Mexican-American women living in the Salinas Valley of California, an area of intensive agriculture.

Few symptoms showed up at age 3, but by age 5 the trend was significant, Marks and colleagues found.

A tenfold increase in pesticide metabolites in the mother's urine correlated to a 500 percent increase in the chances of ADHD symptoms by age 5, with the trend stronger in boys.

A smaller increase in risk was seen if the children had pesticide metabolites in the urine.

In May a different team found children with high levels of organophosphate traces in the urine were almost twice as likely to develop ADHD as those with undetectable levels.

There are about 40 organophosphate pesticides such as malathion registered in the United States. Studies have also linked exposure to Parkinson's, an incurable brain disease.

Source

Steep Drop Seen in Circumcisions in U.S.

Despite a worldwide campaign for circumcision to slow the spread of AIDS, the rate of circumcision among American baby boys appears to be declining.

A little-noted presentation by a federal health researcher last month at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna suggested that the rate had fallen precipitously - to fewer than half of all boys born in conventional hospitals from 2006 to 2009, from about two-thirds through the 1980s and '90s.

Last week, officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautioned that the figures in the presentation were not definitive. But they are already stirring a sharp debate on the Internet.

The slide portrays a precipitous drop in circumcision, to just 32.5 percent in 2009

from 56 percent in 2006. The numbers are based on calculations by SDI Health, a company in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., that analyzes health care data; they do not include procedures outside hospitals (like most Jewish ritual circumcisions) or not reimbursed by insurance.

Andrew Kress, the chief executive of SDI Health, cautioned that the data had not yet been published and was still being analyzed, but he confirmed that the trend had been toward fewer circumcisions each year.

He added that measuring the circumcision rate was not the purpose of the study, which was designed to measure the rate of complications from the procedure.

Opponents of circumcision hailed the trend as a victory of common sense over what they call culturally accepted genital mutilation. For federal health officials, who have been debating whether to recommend circumcision to stem the spread of AIDS, the news suggests an uphill battle that could be more difficult than expected.

The study found a very low rate of complications associated with newborn circumcisions; most were considered mild and no babies died.

Both the C.D.C. and the American Academy of Pediatrics have been reviewing the scientific evidence on circumcision with an eye to issuing new policy recommendations, but so far neither body has done so, although the federal agency was to have issued its new recommendations by the end of last year.

The World Health Organization in 2007 endorsed male circumcision as “an important intervention to reduce the risk of heterosexually acquired H.I.V.”

Several state Medicaid programs stopped covering circumcision after the academy issued its current policy in 1999, and Dr. Brady said that may be one reason fewer parents opt for the procedure. Other possible reasons include a growing Hispanic population that has traditionally been disinclined to circumcision, as well the anti-circumcision movement and a broader trend among parents to spurn medical interventions like vaccination.

Some 80 percent of American men are circumcised, one of the highest rates in the developed world. Yet even advocates of circumcision acknowledge that an aggressive circumcision drive in the United States would be unlikely to have a drastic impact on H.I.V. rates here, since the procedure does not seem to protect those at greatest risk, men who have sex with men.

And while studies in Africa found that circumcision reduced the risk of a man’s becoming infected by an H.I.V.-positive female partner, it is not clear that a circumcised man with H.I.V. would be less likely to infect a woman.

Source

Low vitamin D levels tied to preeclampsia

A new study finds that women who develop a severe form of pregnancy-related high blood pressure tend to have lower blood levels of vitamin D than healthy pregnant women - raising the possibility that the vitamin plays a role in the complication.

The condition is known as early-onset severe preeclampsia, and while it arises in about 2 to 3 percent of pregnancies, it contributes to about 15 percent of preterm births in the U.S. each year.

Preeclampsia is a syndrome marked by a sudden increase in blood pressure and a buildup of protein in the urine due to stress on the kidneys. Early-onset severe preeclampsia is a particularly serious form that arises before the 34th week of pregnancy.

In the current study, researchers found that vitamin D levels were generally lower among 50 women with early severe preeclampsia compared with those of 100 healthy pregnant women. The average vitamin D level in the former group was 18 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), versus 32 ng/mL in the latter group.

There is debate over what constitutes an adequate level of vitamin D in the blood. But many experts say that at least 32 ng/mL is needed for overall health.

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, do not prove that lower vitamin D levels contribute to early-onset severe preeclampsia.

They do, however, add to a spate of recent research finding connections between vitamin D levels in the blood, or vitamin D intake, and the risks of a host of health problems.

A few past studies have found an association between vitamin D and preeclampsia in general. Now more work is needed to see whether pregnant women's vitamin D levels predict the odds of preeclampsia developing -- and whether raising those levels with vitamin D supplements lowers women's risk of the complication, according to Dr. Christopher J. Robinson, of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

If vitamin D is involved in preeclampsia risk, Robinson told Reuters Health, then it might help explain why African American women are at greater risk of the complication than other racial groups -- even when factors like income and healthcare access are taken into account.

Vitamin D is naturally synthesized in the skin when it is exposed to sunlight. This process is less efficient in people with darker skin, and studies have found that African Americans commonly have low levels of vitamin D in their blood; a recent study of U.S. teenagers, for example, found that while 14 percent overall had vitamin D deficiency -- defined as less than 20 ng/mL -- the same was true of half of black teens.

Of the preeclampsia group, 54 percent were deemed to have vitamin D deficiency (less than 20 ng/mL), versus 27 percent of the healthy group. Only 24 percent of women with preeclampsia had vitamin D levels greater than 32 ng/mL, compared with 47 percent of their healthy counterparts.

It is biologically plausible, Robinson said, that the vitamin could affect preeclampsia risk. Vitamin D acts as a hormone, and lab research has found that it may affect the regulation and function of proteins in the placenta; problems in the development of the placenta are believed to be at the roots of preeclampsia.

Right now, it's generally recommended that pregnant women get anywhere from 200 to 400 IU of vitamin D per day; prenatal vitamins contain 400 IU.

But there is much debate over that recommendation, with many researchers arguing that pregnant women -- and everyone else -- need more vitamin D than is officially advised.

Current U.S. guidelines call for adults age 50 and younger to get 200 IU of vitamin D each day, while older adults should get 400 to 600 IU. The upper intake limit is set at 2,000 IU; it is thought that the risk of vitamin D toxicity -- with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and weight loss -- may go up with intakes beyond that level.

However, research in recent years has been challenging those ideas on what is enough, and what is too much, vitamin D, and the U.S. guidelines are currently under review.

For now, though, Robinson said, the 400 IU in prenatal vitamins remains the recommended daily intake for pregnant women.

Source

11 Important Baby Cues

Babies communicate long before they say their first words, says Linda Acredolo, Ph.D., professor emeritus of psychology at University of California, Davis, and author of Baby Signs. "Babies are born with the ability to express several emotions, including distress and contentment," she says. When we read their cues and respond quickly to their needs, she adds, babies feel secure and the parent-child bond is strengthened. Of course, easier said than done - not all babies send the exact same signals, and sometimes it takes months before you feel truly in tune with your baby. Still, some general principles apply.

"Compared to crying, facial expressions are certainly more subtle," says David Hill, M.D., adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at University of North Carolina Medical School. Watch closely, however, and you'll soon catch these familiar expressions:

Gaze aversion

A baby who turns his face away from you needs a break from eye contact. "From about two months on, babies disconnect if they're feeling overwhelmed or over stimulated," says Dr. Acredolo. "Sometimes, the baby will turn his head to the side almost stubbornly, or play with his fingers or toes, or even start crying -- anything to break contact with an adult."

What to do: New parents sometimes get overenthusiastic when interacting with baby, says Dr. Acredolo. "These parents will try moving into their baby's line of sight even if the infant has turned away, or they may keep talking, tickling or jostling to win back their baby's attention," she says. Respect your baby's need for down time, and wait patiently and quietly until he turns back to you. "Then, smile broadly and re-engage with your baby," she says.

Smiling

The first true smile usually occurs between six and eight weeks, says Dr. Acredolo. "At this early age, smiles are likely a signal of physical contentment," she says.

Copycat

We are blueprints for our babies. "Between three and six months, most infants will learn to imitate facial expressions -- fear, surprise, sadness," says Dr. Hill. By nine months, a baby will take in a new situation (i.e. the appearance of a stranger), then look back at her mother's face. "If the baby sees the parent is also distressed, then her anxiety will increase," says Dr. Hill. "Usually, the baby will start clinging or crying."

What to do: Remember that if you're feeling stressed, your baby will be too. If it's a minor case of anxiety, take some deep, cleansing breaths and consciously relax your facial muscles to ease tension. "In many cases, the act of smiling itself is likely to calm you down," says Dr. Hill. "Follow that with strong, smooth touch such as hugging or patting, to let your baby know everything is okay." (Of course, if you're reaching the point of anger or frustration, you should always hand your baby off to someone else. If you're alone, put him down in a safe place like his crib until you've calmed down.)

BODY TALK

Studies suggest that about 90 percent of communication by babies and adults is nonverbal, says speech-language pathologist Diane Bahr, author of Nobody Ever Told Me (or my Mother) That! "For instance, many babies make little fists when they're hungry and begin feeding," she says. "Once they are satisfied and full, their hands relax and open." Other common body language cues:

Arching his back

Starting a few weeks after birth, babies begin arching their backs when they're in discomfort, says Michele Saysana, M.D., director of the Pediatric Hospitalist Program at Riley Hospital for Children at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Often babies arch their backs when they've had enough to eat and want to move away from the breast. (Around 4 or 5 months, this movement might mean something completely different -- that your baby is trying to roll over for the first time.)

What to do: Your baby probably just needs a change of position (after all, she can't move very much herself yet.)

Rubbing eyes and/or ears

Babies will rub their eyes and ears with their hands when they are starting to tire. "Before 6 months, they rub their faces against something if they are tired or itchy," she says. "After that, they might discover an ear by accident, and take comfort in pulling or rubbing it. Ears are a sensitive part of the body, and babies like feeling them."

What to do: Start your bedtime or naptime routine as soon as baby begins rubbing his ears and face. One caveat: If your baby is rubbing his ears, has a temperature of over 101 degrees, and is fussy, he may have an ear infection and you should call your pediatrician, says Dr. Saysana.

Rooting

The rooting reflex is a key to survival, as it helps the baby find food. "A newborn will turn his head whenever something touches his cheek," says Dr. Saysana. "The reflex disappears after the first few weeks, although babies will still turn toward you to nurse -- it's not automatic anymore and becomes a cue they are hungry."

What to do: Use the rooting reflex to your advantage while your baby figures out feeding; a simple touch of the cheek will help him find the breast or bottle.

Startle reflex

Loud noises, bright lights, or a head bobble can trigger the startle reflex -- babies jerk, spread out their arms and legs, then quickly pull them back in and cry. The startle reflex is present at birth, but fades between three and six months.

CRY BABY

Crying is the quickest way for your baby to let you know she's tired, hungry, in pain -- or just plain fussy. But which cry is which? Start listening for variations around one month, explains Bahr.

Hungry cry

A baby will generally wake up hungry and crying for food. "It's a short, low-pitched cry, just over a second in duration," says Bahr. If you don't respond quickly, the cry becomes louder and more intense.

Pain cry

A cry of pain comes on much more suddenly than a hunger cry. It's about twice as long, and continuous– that is, it doesn't rise and fall in pitch.

What to do: Go through a mental checklist when trying to comfort your baby. Could she have a wet or soiled diaper? Could she be too cold -- or too warm? (A baby waking up in a car seat, for instance, is often overheated.) Look your baby over from head to toe. Sometimes a piece of clothing or edge of a diaper is pinching her skin.

Tired cry

Between two and three months, your baby's cries will become more varied, and he may develop a cranky, "tired" cry. "It may be a softer variation of his distress cry, says Bahr.

Source

Obesity a risk for c-section

The larger a pregnant woman is when she checks in on delivery day, the greater her risk of having a cesarean section, according to a US study.

Nearly one of every three births in the United States is now delivered by cesarean, a surgery that has been linked to complications for both mother and baby such as infection, bleeding and hysterectomy.

This rate is about 50 percent higher than it was in the mid-1990s, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"As clinicians, we are faced with so many issues when taking care of patients with higher BMI (body mass index), and one of them is a greater risk for cesarean," researcher Dr. Michelle Kominiarek of Indiana University told Reuters Health.

She added while previous studies had already linked cesarean delivery and body mass index (BMI) – a measure of weight that takes into account height – none had been large or detailed enough to determine how other factors might alter that risk, such as prior births or cesarean sections.

So Kominiarek and her colleagues collected data on nearly 125,000 women from the National Institutes of Health's Consortium on Safe Labor who gave birth between 2002 and 2008. They analyzed the circumstances surrounding each birth, as well as the delivery route.

A total of 14 percent of the women underwent cesareans, report the researchers in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. They found that for every unit increase in BMI, as measured on arrival for delivery, a woman's risk of cesarean delivery rose by 4 percent.

The team also discovered that this risk varied depending on whether or not a woman had given birth before or had previously undergone a cesarean section.

A one-unit increase in BMI raised the risk of cesarean 5 percent for a woman delivering her first child, 2 percent for women with children and prior cesarean, and 5 percent for women with children but without a prior cesarean.

These effects remained after accounting for factors such as maternal age, race and cervical dilation at hospital admission. Overall, those who had a prior cesarean had about double the risk of having another: More than 50 percent of laboring women with a BMI over 40, which is considered morbidly obese.

Part of the motivation for repeat cesareans is concern over a vaginal birth tearing scars left over from the previous surgery. Other factors associated with the risk of cesarean in the current study included an age of 35 or older, black or Hispanic race, and diabetes.

Source

'Only children' are not socially awkward

With smaller families all the rage these days, some parents may worry over the consequences of having just one child.

New research suggests that, as teenagers, only children fare no better or worse in social skills than adolescents with siblings.

"I don't think anyone has to be concerned that if you don't have siblings, you won't learn the social skills you need to get along with other students in high school," said study researcher Donna Bobbitt-Zeher, assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University's Marion campus.

Downing found in past research that, for kindergarteners, having at least one sibling seemed to benefit how teachers rated the kids’ social skills. Bobbitt-Zeher and Downing wanted to see whether this benefit persisted into adolescence.

They examined data of more than 13,000 middle and high school students who each had to list up to five male friends and five female friends.

Overall, students were nominated by an average of five other students as a friend. Results showed no significant differences in popularity between those who had siblings and those who had none.

“What it suggested is by the time students are in adolescence, if there was a benefit to having siblings when you were younger, having time to have other interactions – boy scouts, sports, youth groups – those things might compensate for not having a sibling so that by the time they reach adolescence the negative effect was not there,” Bobbitt-Zeher told LiveScience.

Whether a teen had brothers or sisters, step- or full siblings, didn’t make any difference in the results.

The team also investigated whether parents of only children are somehow different than those who have larger families and it was these differences that somehow influenced their kids’ social skills. They accounted for socioeconomic status, parents' age, race, and whether a teen lives with both biological parents or not. None of these factors mattered in terms of the results on social skills.

In more recent research, Downing has followed his kindergartener participants from his past work to check out their social skills in 5th and 8th grades. He found that by the time they reach 5th grade there is no real difference in social skills between only children and those with siblings.

Past research has also suggested that for cognitive skills having no siblings is the same as having just one sibling. But any more than one sibling and those kids showed poorer cognitive scores. The general idea is that having more kids in a family dilutes resources, including time a parent has to help children with homework or to work with them on certain verbal or math skills.

Source

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka Are Expecting Twins!

How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris and his partner David Burtka are expecting twins, a boy and a girl, this fall!

The 37-year-old actor took to Twitter to confirm the happy news:

"So, get this: David and I are expecting twins this fall. We're super excited/nervous/thrilled. Hoping the press can respect our privacy..."

Last year it was reported that the soon-to-be dads had paid a visit to the Growing Generations surrogacy agency in Los Angeles – the same agency used by Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, whose twins were born June 2009. It looks as though those rumors may not have been far off!

Neil and David, a chef/actor, have been together for approximately six-years.

Congrats to the happy couple!

Source

New research re-awakens the sleep training debate

There is perhaps no parenting decision that tugs on the heartstrings as strongly as whether to let a baby cry him or herself to sleep.

At one end of the spectrum are parents who use some form of "cry-it-out" method to teach their baby to sleep through the night. The method is characterized by periods of letting a baby cry - from a few minutes to more than an hour - without picking him or her up. At the other end are the "no-cry" types who consider letting a baby cry for any length of time to be cruel and unusual punishment.

Stuck in the middle are a lot of exhausted parents hoping to make the right choice – especially since sleep deprivation in infants has been linked to behavioural and cognitive problems, not to mention its effects on mom and dad.

New research on infant sleep appears to deal a blow to those in the cry-it-out camp. Penn State researcher Douglas Teti examined the role of emotional availability on infant sleep and found that regardless of a family’s night-time routine, infants with parents who were responsive and warm had fewer night wakings and an easier time drifting off. In his study, which involved infrared cameras placed in families’ bedrooms and nurseries, a lapse of more than a minute resulted in a lower emotional availability score.

While more research is under way to further test those findings, Dr. Teti, a professor of human development and psychology, says his work adds to a growing skepticism toward sleep training – not only that it may not work, but that it may, in turn, affect the parent-child relationship itself.

Since his landmark book Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems was published in 1985, pediatric sleep expert Richard Ferber has became the best known advocate of a “controlled-crying” approach. He advised parents to leave their infants in their cribs for increasingly longer periods of time, starting with a few minutes (the method spawned the verb “to Ferberize”). They were instructed to pat and comfort their baby through the crying, but not pick up or feed the baby.

Other authors and consultants have since added and subtracted behaviors to create their own formulas – staying in the room or not, being visible or not, soothing by voice or not, touching or not – though many caution against sleep training under six months. Parents often pick and choose from the methods, and some, misinterpreting Dr. Ferber’s technique, simply shut the door.

In Dr. Ferber’s second edition, published in 2006, he added a preface clarifying the difference between his method and a shut-the-door approach. “Simply leaving a child in a crib to cry for long periods alone until he falls sleep, no matter how long it takes, is not an approach I approve of,” he wrote.

Source

Doctor accused of trying to prevent homosexuality before birth

An American doctor has been accused of attempting to prevent homosexuality with the use of an experimental prenatal treatment. As reported by HealthDay News, pediatric endocrinologist and researcher Dr. Maria New of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Florida International University, is at the center of the accusations by medical ethicists who assert her endorsement of the use of dexamethasone for the prevention of the development of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) may be motivated by a hidden agenda. CAH may cause females to be born with indistinct genitalia.

Alice Dreger, professor of clinical medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine is quoted in the report as stating of New, “Her main goal has been to prevent ambiguous genitalia and all the things that come with it, including what she calls ‘behavioral masculinization.” New reportedly denies the accusations.

Several medical societies are now reportedly drafting guidelines regarding the use of dexamethasone for CAH set to be published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in September.

Source

Paz Vega Welcomes a Baby Boy

Paz Vega and husband Orson Salazar have welcomed their third child - a baby boy!

Hola! is reporting that the 34-year-old actress welcomed her second son via cesarean section on August 13 at the Ruber International Clinic in Madrid.

Representatives from the hospital have said that both mom and baby are in perfect health and that they may be discharged on Tuesday. Though a name has not been officially confirmed, one journalist – from El País – took to Twitter to say that Paz and Orson’s latest addition has been named Lenon.

The Spanglish star and her hubby, who have been married 8-years, are also parents to son Orson, 3, and daughter Ava, 1.

Source