07 October 2010

Brit teens clueless about birth

No wonder teen pregnancy rates are so high in Britain.

A new poll reveals that 20% of18 to 25-year-olds think pregnancy lasts one year.

10% believe eating red meat influences the sex of a baby.

Here's my favourite part: 20% thought the umbilical cord was a musical note.



To drink or not to drink....is still the question

A new study released yesterday looks at the effects of drinking alcohol in pregnancy drawing on data from 11,000 children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002.

Several contradictory studies have been published over the last few years and the advice to women has ranged from not drinking at all to having a few drinks with no consistency.

The results of the study suggest that women can have at least one glass of wine per week without harming their foetuses, and that, in fact, children who had mothers who drank a little every now and then have fewer social problems and scored higher on cognitive tests.

Children who had mothers who drank heavily during pregnancy did poorly on cognitive tests and were hyperactive.

Sounds reasonable, right?

Wrong.

1) The study is retrospective which means that they asked women what they drank during pregnancy well after the time that they were pregnant.

2) W0men who are affluent and highly educated tend to drink less during pregnancy anyway so babies are inclined to fare better on cognitive tests based on the socio-economic status of their mothers external to any influence on their development via drinking.

So, the jury is still out on drinking. Do you think avoiding alcohol is the best solution?

Jessica Alba loves...and then hates...the ways she looks post-baby

Jessica Alba has revealed to GQ that she loves her post-baby body: “My breasts are saggy, I’ve got cellulite, my hips are bigger, but I love it.” In the same breath, however, she then says “Every actress out there is more beautiful than me. All better looking than me. I’ve seen them without makeup, so I know.”

*Sigh*

05 October 2010

Miranda Kerr walks the runway


Wow. It's been a long time since I last posted. Let me break it down. As an academic, sometimes, I find it pretty hard to find the time to blog. I teach a lot and often find myself getting lose in the world of undergraduates and generally forget about the world of pregnancy for awhile. In fact, sometimes I just need a holiday from pregnancy. It consume my life inside and outside of academia and every year I always take a few months off. So there you go. Sorry if you thought I left you forever...

Well, I'm back now and there's no better way to return this world than with a post about Miranda Kerr revealing..or should I say not revealing her baby bump at Paris Fashion Week.

Apparently, Lady Kerr walked the Balenciaga runway wearing an oversized houndstooth coat which gave no hint of her 5 months pregnant belly. After the show, she wrote on Facebook: "I was so flattered that Nicholas asked me to walk for Balenciaga even though I'm pregnant! He is an artist and a wonderful soul. Guys, I'm off to bed and hopefully I will get a chance to talk to you over the next few days. Lots of Love Miranda xxx"

Image source: Getty Images
 
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The Baby Bump Project by Meredith Nash is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.