December 29, 2009
Filed under: Infertility — Alan @ 9:08 am
New research from Vitabonics Prengacare Conception suggests that waiting to have a child can lead to a marriage dissolving because some men and women are more focused on locating a fertile partner than finding a partner for love.
A new trend referred to as the ‘breeder relationship’ is becoming more popular as women are waiting longer to have families. Those who fall into this category often get into a loveless partnership for the sake of having a family.
These couples often settle for traits they do not like because their biological clock is warning them that time is running out. This group is much more likely to end up in failed relationships according to experts.
In these cases if a mate is unable to provide a family within a few years the mate will dump their marriage and move onto to another fertile mate in an effort to have a child.
In a survey conducted by researchers that included over 3000 men and women, over a third reported they would choose a mate based on if they could conceive over how compatible the couple was.
Out of these, 30% of men and 42% of women said that even if they found an ideal partner if they knew the person was infertile they would think again about starting a serious relationship.
An additional two thirds of those surveyed reported that they were concerned about being able to conceive naturally and that medical complications could occur if they waited too long before trying.
75% of those questioned said that if their partner had problems conceiving they would consider leaving their partner.
December 23, 2009
Filed under: Names — Alan @ 7:17 am
The top baby names in Scotland were revealed yesterday with Jack taking the honours for males for the seventh time in the past decade, and Sophie once again taking the top spot for female names, after five years being ranked as most popular.
Lewis took second place for boys’ names which has shared the top two spots with Jack for the last decade. James jumped up to third place followed by Liam, and Logan rounding out the top five.
For girls, Olivia was the second most popular name followed in order by Ava, Emily, and Lucy in the fifth position.
Certain names on the list made large notable jumps possibly due to celebrities with Miley taking a jump of 190 places on the list, and Owen jumping 26 places to land at number 32 on the list of most popular boy’s names.
Overall, there were 3977 girls’ names registered in Scotland and 2995 boys’ names registered, which combined means 6972 different names were registered in 2009. Statistics show that out of these names parents are now more willing to take risks and altering the spellings of common names or simply choosing unusual names to begin with.
Two of the most unique names on the list in 2009 were Vanilla for a girl and Denim for a boy.
Some of the more popular names rank lower on the list since multiple spellings of the same named are ranked separately making names such as Aimee and Amy two separate rankings although when placed together they would have ranked second place for girls’ names.
December 22, 2009
Filed under: IVF — Alan @ 8:55 am
A new embryo screening test called PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) has been approved as safe for single pregnancy use, according to information compiled by Belgian researchers.
The researchers looked at a group of 581 children that were born at a Belgian birthing centre over the course of 15 years. Each of the children had been pre-screened with the PGD test. The results showed that the amount of deaths and birth defects were the same as children that were born using typical IVF methods.
The research comes in the midst of concerns that the process, which includes taking out some embryo cells at an early foetal stage, could result in problems during birth.
The Belgian researchers however, reported that when they compared their test subjects to 2,889 children that were born with IVF that did not include PGD, there was no difference in the amount of birth defect rates.
The study found that children who were born via PGD screening had a birth defect rate of about 2.1% while children that were born with other IVF methods had a defect rate of 3.4%.
There was a significant difference in the use of PGD for multiple births versus IVF however, with an 11.7% chance of death for those born with PGD and only 2.5% for IVF methods.
University Hospital Brussels Professor Inge Liebaers, stated that at the moment they are not sure why multiple pregnancies result in such a high death rate with PGD children, but that the numbers are not conclusive due to the small members of case studies.
December 21, 2009
Filed under: Baby public health — Alan @ 9:57 am
The first victim of the variant CJD strain might have died from infected baby food according to his father. Grant Goodwood, age 30, became the first person to die of the vCJD virus with his specific gene type. Other people who have suffered from the strain in the past have the same gene type, which was different than Grant’s.
His father, Thomas Goodwin, claims that Grant may have caught the disease from baby food that he received when he was a child that may have been infected. Scientist’s state that his death may prove that certain strains of the disease may be able incubate and survive for decade long periods.
Thomas stated that his son was usually very happy go lucky but once the illness overtook him he started to become paranoid and began seeing things.
Soon after Grant became ill he moved back home and was diagnosed with the vCJD strain becoming the first person with his gene type to become infected and die from the disease.
December 17, 2009
Filed under: Premature babies — Alan @ 9:18 am
In the case of premature births in which children are born before the mother reaches the 37th week, newborn girls have a better chance of survival and less defects than newborn boys.
In a dissertation at Sweden’s Lund University, Emma Elsmen Steen explored why male babies have a higher risk factor for death than their female counterparts.
There are many complications present in preterm birth including brain haemorrhaging, low blood pressure, cognitive handicaps, and lung immaturity. The more premature a child is born, the higher the risks, especially before the 28th week of pregnancy.
Steen stated in her dissertation that it is a well known fact that boys are a higher risk than girls which is something she wanted to explore to see the development process in the womb.
To complete her study Steen researched over 200 premature births finding that boys were in fact often prone to more complications during the initial period following birth. She found that often boys had lower blood pressure and were more likely to have chronic lung disease.
In another study males were found to have a greater risk of pregnancy toxaemia, infection, loss of amniotic fluid or excessive amniotic fluid.
Steen proposed that in the same way that preeclampsia affects mothers with girl foetuses early in pregnancy, there may be another disease that is not yet identified that primarily affects mothers with boy foetuses causing the premature birthing problems.
Ultimately, Steen drew the conclusion that premature boys face a higher morbidity rate because they mature later in the foetus lifespan than females.
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December 16, 2009
Filed under: IVF — Alan @ 6:50 am
The fertility watchdog, HEFA, is currently reviewing a new policy that may allow women to earn money by donating their eggs to be used by couples who are infertile.
At the moment women who donate their eggs to fertility clinics can only get compensated up to a maximum of £250 for what is consider loss of earnings compensation for the time it takes to donate. However, with donated eggs scarce in Britain, many couples are now heading abroad for eggs where higher payments are allowed for donations.
Although it is not likely that auctions for eggs as takes place in America will be permitted in England, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has consented to take a look at the current policy in place and consider revisions.
Chairman of the HFEA, Professor Lisa Jardine, stated that most people believe that the HFEA policy towards donor payment should be looked over given the knowledge that they have gained since it has been in use. Jardine continued to say that the agency will not comment on what the new review will possibly result in.
Outside of the donation reimbursement policy, the HFEA will also look at if the maximum age for sperm donations should be changed from 45 down to 40 and if the age for egg donors should be raised up from 18 given the health risks that are involved.
Additionally, the HFEA plans to consider if its limit on donation from one donor should be raised from ten due to the current donor shortage.
December 15, 2009
Filed under: Baby items — Alan @ 4:54 am
Before feeding a baby milk out of a bottle it needs to be warmed up, which can be a tedious task for a tired parent, which is why the new gadget Yoomi may be of considerable aid.
The unique product which is the recipient of many research and innovation awards automatically heats up baby milk to the exact temperature of breast milk simply by touching the on button.
It takes just one minute for the Yoomi to warm the milk to 32-34 Celsius.
The inventors behind the Yoomi, Farah and Jim Shaikh said they got the idea for the product after waiting for milk to warm in the morning hours and practically begging waiters to bring them hot water to warm up a baby bottle for their oldest son.
It took six years for the gadget to go from a sketch on a pub napkin to a real invention but now after testing it on their second son it has hit the market.
The gadget contains a sealed warming unit that is beneath the teat inside of the bottle so that when you turn it on with the touch of the button the solution is warmed inside the warmer which then warms the milk as it passes through the chamber.
Nurse and independent breast feeding counsellor Clare Byam-Cook hailed the device stating that its convenience and safety will make new parents’ lives much simpler.
The feeder and bottle costs around £20 and can be purchased from John Lewis which also sells a two teat pack for £4.50.
December 14, 2009
Filed under: Premature babies — Alan @ 7:49 am
Research suggests that there may be one simple test that can accurately predict whether premature labour pains will result in a delivery or a false alarm. Fewer than half of all women who show signs of premature labour actually give birth and often are still subject to many unnecessary tests.
The good news is that now UK researchers believe a test that looks for fFN (foetal fibronectin) may solve the dilemma.
The University of College London study suggests that since fFN protein attaches to the foetal sac a sign of imminent birth is if the protein is found to be leaking. If it is not leaking which is shown by low fFN levels, there is a good chance that the baby is safe.
Although the test to look at fFN levels is easy and cheap, most maternity units do not currently use it.
It can be done while a vaginal examination is performed and is usually done if a woman complains of abdominal pain while pregnant.
The study was conducted at a hospital in which the test was proved to be almost 99% accurate in predicting which women who would go into labour and which ones would not.
Dr. Anna David the lead researcher in the study stated that the fear of a premature baby can cause pregnant women to get very anxious which can be easily remedied by fFN testing. David also stated that it would reduce the amount spent in the healthcare system on long hospital stays that are unneeded.
December 10, 2009
Filed under: Celebrity babies — Alan @ 8:25 am
Gisele Bundchen the supermodel and Tom Brady an American football star have their first child together, born yesterday.
Bundchen is currently also the stepmother to John Edward, Brady’s son from his previous relationship with Bridget Moynahan.
Brady stated that the birth of his son has been a wonderful experience so far, and that he has not been able to get much sleep.
Earlier in the month Brady told reporters that he knew the sex of the child that Bundchen was carrying but that Bundchen decided to be surprised.
Bundchen is currently the most highly paid model in the industry with a fortune that is estimated to be around $150m. The couple has been dating since December of 2006. Two months after they started dating Brady found out that his ex, Bridget Moynahan was pregnant with his first son.
Earlier in the year Bundchen stated in an interview that that she loves Brady’s first son as if he were her own, even if his mother was someone else.
The star couple were married in Santa Monica last February of this year.
Before meeting Brady Bundchen was involved in a high profile relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio which lasted over five years into the year 2005.
December 9, 2009
Filed under: Premature babies — Alan @ 9:44 am
An East Sussex family is now celebrating taking their ‘miracle’ baby home with them after it was born prematurely at only 23.5 weeks. Mark James and Jodi Andrews feared that they would never get to take Anabella out of the hospital after her birth was extremely premature at the Eastbourne District General Hospital.
However, after being treated for four months at three different hospitals at Surrey and Sussex she was finally able to go home last week. James stated that they are beyond belief about how lucky they were.
Andrews went into birth prematurely and was rushed to the general hospital where she gave birth.
James stated that when the baby was born it was still encased in the amniotic sac, which in olden times was supposed to be lucky. He stated that at this point Anabella is a miracle baby since it protected her from bruising.
He continued to say that the couple was told that normally a child under 24 weeks would not be resuscitated but that given the opportunity they chose to give her a chance.
After her birth, Anabella was transferred to the St. Peter’s Hospital special care baby unit and then onto the Brighton Royal Sussex County Hospital.
James stated that there were many problems along the way and that it was an emotional fight but that the NHS offered them an extremely high amount of support, which made the entire ordeal easier for the couple to handle.
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