Tuesday, March 12, 2013

I can't imagine New Zealand seat belts are not much different than USA seat belts.

By Rebecca Quilliam 
2:50 PM Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Pregnant women (click here) are being warned that vehicle crashes account for more than half of all New Zealand's foetal deaths due to a maternal injury, according to a new study.
The University of Otago study found that of the 41 foetal and newborn deaths due to maternal injury between 1997 and 2008, 21 involved motor vehicle collisions.
The university's Injury Prevention Research Unit director Professor Hank Weiss said he found the rate of foetal death resulting from such crashes was about twice that of infant crash-related deaths in New Zealand.
The research also showed that while Maori made up 15 per cent of the population, they account for 27 per cent of the foetal deaths due to maternal crash injury....

Pregnancy is pregnancy anywhere in the world, so I am sure there are reasons to seek application of these findings to further investigation in the USA. It would be a challenge to find adaptations for women, but, I am sure it can be done by adding something to the seat belt for use during pregnancy to make a softer landing for both mom and her expectant condition. Needless to say, women should not stop wearing seat belts either.

C-section birth raises allergy risks (click here)

6:30 AM Tuesday Feb 26, 2013
Being born by caesarean section greatly increases a baby's chances of developing allergies, a new study has found.
Infants delivered by C-section were found to be five times more likely than those born naturally to become allergic to common triggers such as dust mites and pets....
...The discovery lends support to the 'hygiene hypothesis' that links childhood allergy to over-clean conditions early in life....
...The researchers from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit also collected information on the families' history of allergy or asthma, household pets, tobacco smoke exposure, baby illnesses and medication use. Half of all children and teenagers in the UK have experienced allergies by their 18th birthday, and each year the number of allergy sufferers in the UK increases by 5 per cent, half of whom are children....

So while infants are experiencing allergies when born by C-section, their mothers are becoming OCD addicted. Evidently, the obsessions of worrying about baby leads to greater concerns that lasts longer than they should. I have to wonder if some of this is due to age and/or number of children in the family.

New mums prone to OCD - research (click here)

9:40 AM Friday Mar 8, 2013
New mums are more likely to suffer from compulsive behaviours, like repeatedly checking an appliance is off or washing their hands, according to a new study.
The research published in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, found 11 per cent of mothers have obsessive-compulsive symptoms after giving birth. The rate is two to three per cent for the general population.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that includes unwanted, persistent thoughts or images....

I would think focusing on quality of parenting would provide a brand new venue for the USA Anti-abortion folks, too. That is something we never see in the USA. We always hear how a political issue dreamed up by Right Wingers is more important than any other quality of life issue in the USA. We never hear about the intense research they have done to improve the lives of women, children and families, though. Can they honestly be taken seriously? I don't think so.