Headline of the day!

"Babies born to women who suffered morning sickness may be smarter"

Benefits for Breast-Feeding Moms

A NYT story reports that a new study has found dramatic breast-feeding benefits for moms:
"Women who had breast-fed for more than a year in their entire lifetimes were almost 10 percent less likely than those who had never breast-fed to have had a heart attack or a stroke in their postmenopausal years. They were also less likely to have diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.

The study found that even those postmenopausal women who had breast-fed for just one month had lower rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol"

Wow!

Save for Pregnancy/Sleep Book Update

German researchers have found that fetal dreaming develops before rapid eye movements of sleep (in fetal sheep, anyway!)

Madison Still Rules!

The SSA has released the top baby names of '07 by state. In my home state of MD, Madison has stayed the top moniker for girls, and Michael is the top pick for boys.
"Madison" has always been such a naming oddity. Traditional names always fall in and out of favor, but Madison seemed to come out of nowhere, straight to the #1 spot.
Will it hang on another year?

Is this for real?

Walgreens is selling a kit to predict a baby's gender!
How would that even be possible?

Mommy Wars

When we wrote the first Great Expectations book in 2004, out-of-wedlock births represented about 35 percent of the total. Three years later, births to unmarried moms have hit an all-time high in the U.S., representing 40% of all births or about 2.2 million babies a year.

Speaking of motherhood, Dr. Laura has a new book in praise of Stay-at-Home moms and was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Love her or hate her, she always has something interesting to say!

Fertility Tests vs. Ovulation Prediction

The NYT wrote about First Response's new fertility test, notable because we get a whole lot of fertility questions on HBN.com. As I've learned from Pee on a Stick, ovulation prediction kits tests detect lutenizing hormone (LH), which surges before ovulation and also helps maintain early pregnancy. The problem with a test that detects LH is that the test will show you as ovulating if you're pregnant. Fertility tests that detect FSH will avoid this problem. I'll definitely have to learn more about how they work!

Developmental Delays in "Late Preterm" Infants

A new study shows that babies born even a few weeks too soon can suffer developmental delays. Proof that the longer a baby can spend in a nice, dark womb buiding those brain-cell connections, the better!

Pee on a Stick

I am learning so much about Ovulation Prediction Kits this morning!
Seriously, this site, Pee on a Stick, answers every question anyone could ever have about OPKs in explicit and intimate detail.

New Product Alert

A home fertility test for women, from the makers of First Response. Wonder if will actually help women get pregnant faster?

Also interesting from the NYT: In India, motherhood is powerful!