Even before conception, a mother’s obesity may affect cognitive development in her baby-to-be.
Pregnancy
The Pros and Cons of Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy
Both antidepressant use and untreated depression in pregnant women may lead to risks for babies. A new study adds data to a troubling problem.
Surrogacy Gone Wild: British Woman Keeps Giving Babies Away
Pregnancy taxes a woman’s body, so you really have to wonder about the motivation behind Jill Hawkins’ desire to keep signing up for surrogate duty.
Pregnant at Work? Why Your Job Could Be at Risk
Not all employers wish their pregnant employees well: the number of pregnancy-related discrimination charges have jumped by 35% in the past decade
Pfizer Birth Control Recall: Could Women Who Get Pregnant Sue?
If women wind up pregnant from faulty pill packets, product liability lawsuits or “wrongful pregnancy” cases — reminiscent of medical malpractice — could be filed.
Gingrich Wants Scrutiny of IVF Clinics: Why That’s Not the Worst Idea
When IVF creates excess embryos, women are faced with a choice: store them indefinitely, donate them to others or offer them to research.
Why Abortion Is Less Risky than Childbirth
Abortions are considered high-risk, but new data suggest that the procedure is considerably safer than childbirth.
Boy or Girl? Why Dads Want Sons, but Moms Want Daughters
Women strongly prefer daughters while men wants sons, a study finds. Could this lead to sex selection?
What Causes Stillbirth?
When reality TV star Michelle Duggar announced last week that she’d learned at 19½ weeks that her baby-to-be no longer had a heartbeat, the very personal topic of miscarriage took a turn in the media spotlight.
Boot Camp, Part 1: An Exercise in No Pain, No Gain
The words “boot camp” and “Bonnie” do not go together. I am one of the last people you’d ever envision willingly signing up for a 45-minute class, four days a week, that has as its goal exercising to the point of exhaustion.
Down Syndrome: With Breakthroughs in Testing, a Choice Becomes Tougher
Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about Melanie Perkins McLaughlin is that she’s not pro-life or pro-choice or pro anything — other than pro-information.
The Healthland Podcast: Pepper Spray, Sleep Apnea, and How Long to Wait Between Pregnancies
Welcome to our Thanksgiving edition. This week we discuss whether pepper spray is a useful tool or a form of torture. Also, we talk about the dramatic rise in diagnoses of sleep apnea. And we try to puzzle out the optimal period …
Baby Boom? Moms Eager to Deliver on 11/11/11, the Coolest of Due Dates
Expectant mom Julie Madayag first learned of her daughter’s auspicious potential birth date from an online due-date calculator: 11/11/11, the computer predicted.