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Birth & Parenting News: New prenatal tests safer
New prenatal tests offer safer early screenings. New, noninvasive blood tests are being developed for expectant mothers to find out if their babies have genetic conditions such as Down syndrome, without the risks of tests currently available. New tests of fetal DNA sampled from a mother’s blood can be used to screen for Down syndrome, which occurs in one in 691 live births and causes cognitive disabilities. The new blood tests could be performed as early as nine weeks into a pregnancy—earlier than amniocentesis—and may be available as soon as the end of this year.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
Birth & Parenting News: Home birth after hospital birth?
Have you had a home birth after a hospital birth? Birth Kalamazoo is collaborating on a research study with Dr. Ruth Zielinski and Casey Bernhard of Western Michigan University’s Bronson School of Nursing. If you’d like to participate in one of our focus group exploring women’s reasons for choosing home birth after at least one hospital birth, please e-mail: jessica@birthkalamazoo.com for more information. Focus groups will be held in Kalamazoo.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
Birth & Parenting News: Newborns Remember Music Heard in the Womb
A fascinating example of the effects of music on pre-born children is that of world famous Canadian conductor Boris Brott. In his book, The Secret Life of the Unborn Child, Dr. Thomas Varney relates that when Mr. Brott was asked when he developed an interest in music, he replied, “before birth.” Mr. Brott recounted that while learning new music pieces, he was surprised to find he already knew certain pieces by heart, particularly the viola parts. His mother, a viola player, realized these were the same pieces that she had practiced while pregnant with him. Dr. Verny’s research into the life of the unborn child has also found that the child in the womb “can see, hear, experience, taste, and, on a primitive level, even learn in utero.”
Recently, scientists at Paris Descartes University found that one-month-old babies remember music that was played to them in the third trimester of their mothers’ pregnancies. Read more.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.
Birth & Parenting News: Free Doulas for Michigan Families
I am proud to announce the birth of Doula Connection … a new nonprofit organization founded by me in May 2011. Doula Connection will sponsor programs that help new moms and their families have healthier and happier beginnings. Our premier initiative, funded by a $14,000 seed grant from March of Dimes, is the launch of our new website, MichiganDoulaConnection.org. The site is designed to enable low-income families to connect with volunteer doulas throughout the state. In the free online Doula Registry, Michigan Doula Connection will also list charitable community-based doula programs and other mentoring and home visiting programs that provide support to families. In addition, we offer on-demand continuing education webinars, scholarships for doula training, free online resources, and more! Please help spread the word. And, if you are a trained doula willing to serve some families without pay, or part of a program or agency that offers free services to childbearing families, please join our free online Doula Registry.
Each Wednesday, our Birth & Parenting News blog highlights the latest news items, research results, consumer alerts, and legislative action alerts of interest to expectant and new parents and the professionals who work them.