January 4th, 2012
Lily Allen Baby Name Revealed [CelebrityBabyScoop]
26 Resolutions for Pregnancy, Labor and Life with Your Child [
FitPregnancy]
3 resolutions for a happier family in 2012 [
Today]
5 Things Families Fight About in Pregnancy [
About]
Exercise Won’t Prevent Gestational Diabetes [theAtlantic]
Do twin embryos help each other survive in IVF? [reuters]
The women hoping their dead husbands can still give them a family [DailyMail]
25 Best Mom Confessions of 2011 [theStir]
January 4th, 2012
Two infants died and two infants were sickened by a bacteria commonly associated with powdered formula last month, but a recent report from two government agencies concludes that the infections were not caused by formula or the nursery water used to mix it. The infected infants were from four different states – one in Missouri, another in Florida, and the other two in Oklahoma and Illinois. They had each consumed powdered formula before being infected by Chronobacter sakazakii.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) both concluded through tests of different types of powdered formula and nursery water that they were not the source. The death of Avery Cornett in Missouri prompted the CDC to ask public health officials across the country to report other infants with similar infections, which accounts for the seemingly sudden outbreak. The batch of formula that sickened Avery was re-tested and came up negative according to the CDC. In addition, the bacterial strain found in Missouri differed genetically from the one found in Illinois. Increased awareness of the illness has brought the number of reported Chronobacter infections up to 12 for 2011 – in past years the average has been four to six infections.
However, the cause of the infections is still not known. The CDC released a statement on Friday: “CDC laboratory tests of samples provided by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services found Cronobacter bacteria in an opened container of infant formula, an opened bottle of nursery water and prepared infant formula. It is unclear how the contamination occurred.”
CDC, FDA say 4 cases of bacterial infection in babies not related, infant formula not tainted [WashPo]
January 2nd, 2012
Everyone has heard of pregnancy brain, where pregnant women suddenly become incredibly forgetful, but it wasn’t until recently that scientists really began to discover how pregnancy moves things around upstairs. These changes often feel like a setback, but what they’re really doing is preparing you for motherhood.
Not much is known about the way that pregnancy effects the brain because testing is typically limited to animals, however, rats have shown us a lot of interesting changes that occur. When rats become pregnant, more olfactory cells (controlling the sense of smell) begin to grow. The changes in rat’s brains last a lifetime and researchers believe this is true of human pregnancy as well. The flood of hormones that takes place during pregnancy and while giving birth completely dwarfs the hormonal burst of puberty. At no other time in a person’s life are hormones taking over the body in such abundance.
Your baby is driving changes in the body and brain as well. Studies have found that when the baby begins to move in the womb, an event called quickening, the mother’s heart rate increases along with her skin conduction (a skin change that usually signals psychological arousal), even if she can’t feel the movement. Studies have also found that some fetal cells can stay in the mother’s body for years after the child’s birth. In mice, these cells were found in the brain but it’s unknown what their purpose is yet.
Overall, much remains unknown about the way pregnancy changes the brain, but researchers believe that these changes are simply priming the mother to become a better caretaker for the baby.
Have you noticed any changes in the way you think or behave since becoming pregnant?
Pregnancy May Change Mom’s Brain For Good [LiveScience]
