Smoking while pregnant found to increase risk of ‘cross eyes’ and reduced fertility in baby

Smoking while pregnant increases the chance of eye problems and low fertility counts in babies, according to two separate scientific studies.

Research on how women who smoke while pregnant affect the development of their child has been going on for decades. Recently published studies in the American Journal of Epidemiology and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B add to the mountain of evidence that smoking while pregnant is detrimental to the developing baby.

Dr. Tobias Torp-Pedersen and his team of researchers at the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, Denmark found that smoking while pregnant increased the risk of strabismus, a condition in which the eyes are unable to align evenly.

Copyright © 2006-2009 By Shawn Douglas

READ FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Avoid junk food during pregnancy!

In their rat-based study, researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center showed that pregnant females that ate a high fat diet not only increased breast cancer risk in their female daughters but also in that daughter's offspring – the "granddaughters."

The researchers say they don’t know why this risk is passed on through two generations, but they believe it occurs through as-yet unknown "epigenetic" changes that result in an increase in terminal end buds in the breast tissue – an increase that apparently can then be passed on through generations.

These buds are believed to be the structures where breast cancer can develop, and having more of these structures seems to increase breast cancer risk, says the study’s lead investigator, Sonia de Assis, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Leena Hilakivi-Clarke’s laboratory at Lombardi. "That is our theory, but we really don’t know how it is happening – just yet."

Copyright © 2010 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

READ FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Separated twins 'making progress'

Cork twins Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf are in a stable condition and making steady progress following their separation almost two weeks ago, London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital said today.

The boys, who were conjoined at the chest when born in December, were successfully separated during a 14 hour operation at the hospital on April 7th and 8th.

The procedure was carried out by Cork-born consultant paediatric Edward Kiely and a team of about 30 other doctors.

In a statement released today, Great Ormond Street Hospital said the twins remained in intensive care but were making progress on a daily basis.

© 2010 irishtimes.com By Stephen Carroll

READ FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE

Mums-to-be who follow weight gain guidelines more likely to lose it postpartum: Study

Overweight, young, undereducated, Aboriginal and first-time mothers are more likely to gain more weight than recommended during pregnancy, according to a new Statistics Canada study released Wednesday.

They're also more likely to retain that weight five to nine months postpartum, the study found.

"Canadian women's adherence to Health Canada gestational weight guidelines has not been assessed since the recommendations were released in 1999," the study said

"Observational studies in countries with similar guideline have shown that women tend to gain more weight than recommended while they are pregnant.

© 2008 - 2010 Canwest Publishing Inc.

READ FULL ARTICLE CLICK HERE

When to Tell the Boss You’re Pregnant

When I was pregnant with my first child, I kept it a secret from everyone at work for the first three months. That was logistically simple — I was working in the Houston bureau of The Times at the time, and my editors and colleagues were almost all in New York. But it was physically and emotionally exhausting. I was spending as much energy pretending I wasn’t pregnant as I was actually being pregnant, which adds up to an awful lot of energy.

I didn’t tell for many reasons — because I feared the jinx factor, and because I was still absorbing the news myself. I also didn’t want to have to deliver sad news if the pregnancy ran into complications in the early months. The second time around, though, I told everyone early, because I was more confident and really, really tired of acting like I wasn’t nauseous all the time.

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company By Lisa Belkin