The latest in Family

Dealing With Obesity in Children

2010-03-10T23:58:12Z

More and more children are struggling with obesity in today's society. With a prevalence of video games and television luring youth into a sedentary lifestyle, it is no wonder why so many children are facing this issue. However, it is not the children who are to blame for the obesity problem, for children are only a product of their environment. If a child lives in a home where healthy eating and regular exercise are not encouraged, then the child will blindly follow the unhealthy habits he o...

Vaginal birth after cesarean underused: panel

2010-03-10T14:30:18Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If you're pregnant and have had a cesarean section before, chances are you'll have one again. In at least one-third of US hospitals, a repeat cesarean is the only option, and nine in 10 women end up getting one -- a fact that had experts worried at a national conference this week on vaginal birth after cesarean, or VBAC.</p...

Panel: Women need chance to avoid repeat C-section

2010-03-10T14:18:35Z

<div id="subtitle">Govt panel finds too many women denied chance to avoid repeat C-section, urges policy change</div><div><p>Too many pregnant women who want to avoid a repeat cesarean delivery are being denied the chance, concludes a government panel that urged doctors to rethink litigation-spurred policies that have swung the pendulum back toward the days of "once a C-section, always a C-section."</p><p>Fifteen years ago, nearly 3 in 10 women who had a first...

Hoped-for drop in childbirth deaths not happening

2010-03-09T00:15:30Z

<div id="subtitle">HEALTHBEAT: Jump in obesity, C-sections may be playing role in childbirth-related deaths</div><div><p>Eleven days after her son Benjamin's birth by C-section, Linda Coale awoke in the middle of the night in pain, one leg badly swollen. Just as her doctor returned her phone call asking what to do, she dropped dead from a blood clot.</p><p>Pregnancy-related deaths like Coale's appear to hav...

Low birth weight may affect adult lung health

2010-03-08T07:45:26Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Middle-aged adults who were born at a relatively low weight may have more breathing difficulties than those who were bigger newborns, a new study suggests.</p><p>In a study of 627 Chinese men and women in their 40s, researchers found that participants' scores on standard lung-function tests generally lined up with their birth weights. The lowest average scores were record...

US warns against adopting in Nepal

2010-03-05T07:15:44Z

<div><p>The United States has warned its citizens against adopting children in Nepal, saying it has "grave concerns" about the reliability of that country's adoption system.</p><p>The government urged prospective adoptive parents to choose another country, citing the case of a young Nepalese girl placed in the custody of an American couple without the consent of her biologi...

Groups protest S.Korea crackdown on abortion

2010-03-05T00:17:00Z

<div><p>South Korean activists staged a protest Friday against a government crackdown on abortion, saying women should have the right to decide on the issue.</p><p>About 40 activists -- mainly women -- from 24 groups shouted "Stop a crackdown on abortion that violates women's rights" in a Seoul park, after issuing a joint statement to mark International Women's Day on March 8.</p><p>Abortion is officially illegal unles...

Can delaying pregnancy cut early water break risk?

2010-03-02T14:33:27Z

<div><p>Anne Harding</p><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women whose water has broken early may want to wait at least 18 months before having their next child, new research shows.</p><p>Known by doctors as preterm premature rupture of membranes, this complication, in which a woman's water breaks before her pregnancy has reached full term and before labor has begun, occurs in up to 5 percent of pre...

Nepal's stolen children point to flawed system

2010-03-02T01:17:33Z

<div><p>Rajan Kumar Nepali did not know he was giving up his two young children when he put his thumbprint on a document handing custody to an orphanage in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.</p><p>The owners of the children's home had promised to take care of his son and daughter while the 28-year-old labourer, who cannot read or write, tried to get his life back on track after he became addicted to drugs.</p><p>I...

Nepal's stolen children highlight flawed adoption system

2010-03-02T01:17:26Z

TV's "Parenthood" revisits family life, 20 years on

2010-03-01T12:45:17Z

<div><p>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - More than two decades after Oscar-winning director Ron Howard's family inspired his hit movie "Parenthood", a new generation of writers is bringing the ...

Findings confirm H1N1 flu's toll on pregnant women

2010-02-26T14:30:43Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research from Australia confirms that the HIN1 flu hits pregnant women particularly hard-especially if they have asthma, obesity or diabetes.</p><p>"This finding underscores the importance of education regarding recommendations for vaccination in pregnancy and the need for rapid testing and earlier use of antivirals in...

news uso dr biden

2010-02-25T17:32:50Z

Dr. Jill Biden USO Military Family Care Package Stuffing Party at the US Army National Guard Armory Washington DC, USA - 24.02.10

Defense Department to suspend it abruptly last week.</p><p>Th...

Neb. lawmakers discuss fetal pain abortion bill

2010-02-25T15:15:36Z

<div id="subtitle">Nebraska bill seeks to ban most late-term abortions based on argument that fetuses feel pain</div><div><p>A group of lawmakers is pushing to make Nebraska the first state to outlaw most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the argument that the fetus might feel pain during the procedure.</p><p>Emboldened by the Supreme Co...

Heart disease risk tied to mom's number of births

2010-02-25T13:30:35Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A woman's risk of heart disease and stroke in middle-age and beyond may be associated with the number of children she gives birth to, a large study of Swedish women hints.</p><p>"Women having two births had the lowest risk of future cardiovascular disease," Dr. Erik Ingelsson, at

Spanish abortion reform law wins final approval by parliament

2010-02-24T12:16:28Z

<div><p>Spain's upper house of parliament on Wednesday passed legislation easing access to abortion, giving a final stamp of approval to a law fiercely opposed by the Roman Catholic Church and the conservative opposition.</p><p>The Senate approved the law tabled by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodrigu...

Blair focuses on free healthcare on SLeone visit

2010-02-24T11:17:34Z

<div><p>Former British prime minister Tony Blair met Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma Wednesday on progress made in providing free healthcare to pregnant women and children under five.</p><p>"The idea is that if you provide the health care free, more people will access the service and more childre...

Woman has 2 babies in first for ovarian transplant

2010-02-24T07:30:32Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - A woman has given birth to two children after her fertility was restored using transplants of ovarian tissue, the first time the complex treatment has produced two babies from separate pregnancies.</p><p>Claus Yding Andersen, the Danish doctor who treated the woman, said the case showed how this method of storing ovarian ...

Ovarian transplant woman is mum twice over

2010-02-24T05:15:51Z

<div><p>In what doctors described Wednesday as a world first, a Danish woman has given birth to two children after her fertility was restored using ovarian tissue that was removed, frozen, thawed and then reimplanted after cancer treatment.</p><p>It is being hailed as a breakthrough for young women whose hope of one day becoming mothers could be wrecked by cancer therapy in their reproductive years.</p><p>Stinne Holm Bergholdt, from