The BBC is reporting that there is some concern over ultrasound baby scans that are done simply for the sake of a souvener among health experts. Ultrasound scans are thought to be safe but sometimes the ultrasounds made as souvenirs as held over the baby's head longer than health check ultrasounds.
Although ultrasound scans to check the baby's health are entirely justifiable and safe, the Health Protection Agency is concerned about "boutique" scanning.
Its independent advisory board looked at the available evidence for any possible health ill effects.
It said more research is needed to determine the long-term consequences.
A similar warning was issued in 2007. The British Medical Journal in 2007 reported that doctors were worried about the rise in companies offering scans solely meant for people to take home and put in baby books.
Report: 1 Million Babies Die Prematurely Each Year
USA Todayreports that a study released by the March of Dimes found that more than 1 million babies die each year because they are born too soon. The study also found 13 million babies are born prematurely each year, which is about 10% of all newborns.
The preterm birth rate in the USA is especially high: 12.7% of all babies are born early, according to the March of Dimes. That rate has increased 36% in the past 25 years, partly because of an increase in elective cesarean section, an increase in older mothers and the growing use of assisted reproduction, which increases the risk of twins, triples and higher-order multiple births, the report says.
Most of the increase in the USA is in "late preterm" babies, born at 34 to 36 weeks of pregnancy, the report says.
Some babies are at higher risk than others, the report says. In the USA, black babies are 1½ times as likely as whites to be premature — a major reason that black infant mortality is so much higher than that of whites, says Christopher Howson, vice president for global programs at the March of Dimes.
You can see the complete report from the March of Dimes here (PDF file).
The New York Timesreports that a China firm named the Sanlu Group is recalling 700 tons of baby formula that was contaminated with melamine. The baby forumla has been linked to at least one death already.
The producer of the suspect formula, the Sanlu Group, recalled 700 tons of it after determining Thursday that it had been contaminated with melamine, an industrial chemical.
The official Xinhua news agency cited Zhao Xinchao, the vice mayor of Shijiazhuang, in Hebei Province, where Sanlu is based, as saying that the police had questioned 78 people, including dairy farmers and milk dealers. The police suspect that some may have diluted milk with water to increase the volume for sale to Sanlu, and then added melamine to disguise the dilution, Mr. Zhao told the news agency.
A common industrial test for the protein content of dairy products or animal feed gives an inaccurately high reading if melamine is present.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said that no infant formula from China had been approved for import. But the F.D.A. advised consumers to be cautious since limited quantities might have found their way into some ethnic groceries.
This is exactly the kind of news parents do not want to hear. It wasn't too long ago that many people's pets died and/or suffered because of pet food tainted with melamine. It is good to know that after serious problems like the pet food scandal the U.S. would not be giving baby formula imported from China easy passage into our stores. However, it is disconcerting to learn that ethnic groceries may have obtained some of the melamine tainted formula. (via ParentDish)
Anorexia is scary enough but doctors are also concerned about women who try to diet during pregnancy. The phenomenon has been dubbed pregorexia. Fox News has a story about pregorexia. Doctors are very concerned about it because gaining too little weight during pregnancy has been linked to lower birth weights in babies and premature births.
"It's vital women know that pregnancy is no time to be starving yourself," Pat O'Brien, a consultant obstetrician at University College Hospital and the Portland Hospital in London, told the Daily Mail. "During the nine months it is in the womb, the baby is growing faster than it ever will in later life."
Gaining too little weight during pregnancy is associated with poor fetal growth, lower birth weight and the chance of a baby's being born prematurely, according to a study released in May from RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center.
Alvarez said expectant mothers need to consume certain vitamins such as folic acid and vitamin B, as well as calcium to ensure the health of their unborn babies.
"What we expect is that, whenever possible, women should have a physical before they get pregnant — that way they can be evaluated for risk factors such as being overweight or underweight," he said. "Being overweight can lead to complications such as diabetes and being underweight can lead to problems such as low birth weight."
Here's a video from CBS that describes the warning signs of pregorexia. Women need more calories and nutrition during pregnancy not less. Exercise can also be overdone so pregnant women need to be carefull not to overdue it.
Baby pain is very difficult to discern and Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports that many of them may be suffering as doctors look toward saving lives over relieving baby pain. A lot of time babies are not given any pain medication. Gupta says there is confusion in the medical industry about how to handle a baby's pain. There is the possibility that if a baby suffers from too much pain it could influence their long-term behavior.
Reuters reports that a new study has linked a large number of birth defects to mothers who have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The research found that diabetic women are three times as likely to have a baby with a birth defect than non-diabetic women.
A variety of different birth defects are associated with mothers who have type 1 diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes, or type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease that is linked to obesity, the researchers said.
These included defects of the heart, brain, spine, limbs, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract, penile and ear abnormalities and cleft palate, the researchers wrote in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
"This study documents the fact that diabetes is associated with a wider range of defects than we had been aware of in the past," Dr. Adolfo Correa of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who led the study, said in a telephone interview.
The study was pretty large comprising of 13,030 babies born with birth defects around the United States and 4,895 babies without birth defects. Other articles about the study can be found on WebMD, U.S. News and ABC2News.
There are concerns about baby bottles and plastic bottles in general. Some tests have shown that a chemical in plastic called chemical bisphenol A (BPA) can be leached from baby bottles when they are used repeatedly - especially if the plastic bottles is used over and over or the bottle is heated. US Newsreports that environmental health organizations are calling for a BPA ban.
"This is quite concerning. All 19 polycarbonate bottles [investigated in the study] leached BPA when heated. This is clearly showing that BPA is certainly leaching from popular and common consumer products," Judith Robinson, special projects director with the Environmental Health Fund, said at a Thursday teleconference. "We're calling for an immediate moratorium on the use of BPA in all baby bottles, as well as all food and beverage containers. It's not necessary, and we're calling for an end to it immediately."
The call for a ban coincides with publication of a new study, Baby's Toxic Bottle: Bisphenol A Leaching from Popular Brands of Baby Bottles, commissioned by the same group of organizations, showing that BPA leaches from popular brands of plastic baby bottles when the bottles are heated.
This study comes just days after another study found that exposing plastic bottles in general to boiling water can release BPA 55 times faster than normal.
There is concern in many quarters that BPA, an environmental estrogen, may pose some risk to development and reproduction, although it's unclear at what level that harm begins to occur.
Animal studies have shown the leached chemicals can even alter development. Matt Lauer talks with Dr. Leo Trasande of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in this video below (via Parent Dish). Some bottles are worse than others and Dr. Trasande says you need to avoid bottles with the numbers 3,6 and 7 on the bottom.
Drugmakers Pull Cold Medications for Infants Off Shelves
Drugmakers have pulled a number of cold and cough medications targeted at children under 2 years old off store shelves. The drugs were pulled after the FDA issued a public health warning about nonprescription cough and cold medicine use. The FDA statement included this warning.
Do not use cough and cold products in children under 2 years of age UNLESS given specific directions to do so by a healthcare provider.
An MSNBC article explains the drugs that were pulled off the shelves.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association announced Thursday that manufacturers were voluntarily ending sales of over-the-counter oral cough and cold products aimed at infants. The list includes infant drops sold under the leading brand names Dimetapp, Pediacare, Robitussin, Triaminic, Little Colds, and versions of Tylenol that contain cough and cold ingredients.
CVS Caremark Corp. added that it would also end sales of CVS-brand equivalents.
"It's important to point out that these medicines are safe and effective when used as directed, and most parents are using them appropriately," said Linda Suydam, president of the industry trade group.
The article says pediatric and public health groups recommend the following actions for dealing with a child with a cold or cough.
Plenty of fluids and rest.
Suction bulbs to gently clear infants' clogged noses. Saline nose drops loosen thick secretions so noses drain more easily.
A cool-mist humidifier in the child's bedroom.
Acetaminophen or ibuprofen, as recommended by your doctor, to alleviate pain or discomfort - but check that they don't contain extra ingredients.
Some chest creams can ease stuffiness with menthol or other fragrances, but check labels for age restrictions.
The latest news is that an FDA Panel has advised against the use of OTC cold medications in kids aged 2 to 5. The FDA Panel also recommends drugs for this age group to be pulled as well.
An article from USA Today details why a regular sleep routine is important for babies. They can suffer from lack of sleep and can become sleep deprived with irregular sleeping times just like adults.
Newborns generally have irregular sleep rhythms, and most parenting or pediatric sleep books, including Weissbluth's, describe how patterns emerge over the next few months and years, including times of day and night the child tends to get sleepy and when he or she usually starts sleeping through the night.
The failure to recognize a little one's natural rhythms lays the foundation for future problems, including bedtime battles, difficulty falling asleep, night wakings, and early morning wake-ups, say pediatric sleep experts.
"Chaotic family schedules interfere with the stabilization of a child's circadian rhythms," says Richard Ferber, director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital Boston. "The lack of a sleep routine, unenforced bedtimes, and no limit-setting leave a child feeling unwell in a manner analogous to jet lag," Ferber says.
Even babies and toddlers can suffer from lack of sleep or poor sleep, says Michael Twery, director of the National Center for Sleep Disorders Research at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
The article also cites some figures from a 2004 National Sleep Foundation survey that gives an idea of how many hours of sleep babies need.
According to the survey, infants (3 to 11 months) sleep 12.7 hours, even though up to 16 hours are suggested. Toddlers (1 to 3) slumber 11.7 hours, when 12-14 are advised. And preschoolers get 10.4 hours, even though 11-13 hours are recommended.
You can read more from that sleep survey here on the Sleep Foundation's website.
The USA Today article also displays a useful child sleep chart from the University of Michigan Health System. We all need sleep. It is not a surprise that babies are any different.
USA Today 