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WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2009 – An Army general in Iraq is going beyond the typical protocol to ensure every able-bodied soldier in his unit stays fit to fight, even if it means punishing troops for engaging in sexual activities while deployed. Through the Multinational Division North command’s General Order No. 1, Maj. Gen. Anthony A. Cucolo III formally prohibits deployed soldiers under his command from becoming pregnant or impregnating a soldier. Defense Department regulations call for any servicemember who becomes pregnant in a combat theater or learns she’s pregnant after deploying to a combat theater to immediately redeploy to their...

Early last month, Army Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo (left) issued General Order #1 as a means of informing those assigned to his Multi-National Division North (a.k.a., "Task Force Marne") that becoming pregnant -- or assisting in the effort -- is one of several types of conduct deemed "prejudicial to the maintenance of good order and discipline" among members of the 22,000-strong task force headquartered in Tikrit, Iraq. In fact, it ranks alongside alcohol, drugs, guns and similar vices on the general's list of prohibited activities.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 27 - A pregnant woman carries stem cells that could be used in critical medical treatments for her baby, either in the womb or later in life, a team of Italian scientists has announced. These cells, found in the womb during pregnancy, can be removed during a simple antenatal test and stored for future use, concluded the study, which appears in next week's edition of the Cloning and Stem Cells journal. They could then be used to generate tailor-made organs and tissues or even to treat the woman's baby while still in the womb, said Giuseppe...

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Mackenzie McCollum was about four months pregnant as she darted around the volleyball court, angling to get under the ball in her team's first game of the district playoffs. Although her team lost that Nov. 3 contest, simply getting to play was a victory for the 17-year-old senior, who battled several obstacles to get back on the team at Arlington Heights High School in Fort Worth, Texas. Among the many issues raised was concern about whether being that active was good for her and her baby. "I've had times where I've been short of breath on...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The group most threatened by swine flu and most in need of the new vaccine, world health authorities say, is that of pregnant women. For example, Aubrey Opdyke. On June 27, Opdyke, a 27-year-old waitress and former high school swimmer who weighed 135 pounds before her pregnancy and had no health risks other than a smoking habit, came down with mild flu symptoms. She just came home from the hospital three weeks ago.

Over 90% of flu cases this year will be caused by the H1N1 strain of virus. As with the most strains of the flu virus, young children, the elderly, those with comprised immune systems and pregnant women are especially at risk. The H1N1 strain of flu carries a greater risk of complications and death compared to the traditional flu. This is due to the fact that the H1N1 virus causes more severe respiratory complications much faster. As a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, I am very concerned that pregnant women understand the dangers of not being vaccinated for both the seasonal flu...

New CDC Report: Abortion, Pregnancy Rates Drop to Historic Lows Washington, DC -- A new report released yesterday from the Centers for Disease Control shows the number of abortions, the abortion rate and the pregnancy rate all declining from the period 1990-2005. The abortion rate dropped to a historic low. http://www.LifeNews.com/nat5569.html

A proposal to make preexisting health conditions irrelevant in the sale of insurance policies could help not just the seriously ill but also people who might consider themselves healthy, documents released Friday by a California-based advocacy group illustrate. Health insurers have issued guidelines saying they could deny coverage to people suffering from such conditions as acne, hemorrhoids and bunions. One big insurer refused to issue individual policies to police officers and firefighters, along with people in other hazardous occupations. Some treated pregnancy or the intention to adopt as a reason for rejection. *snip* Kristin E. Binns, a spokeswoman for parent...

A new study is suggesting a “strong” link between the religiosity of a state’s residents and the teen birth rate there. Though only half of the states listed among the ten most conservatively religious also appear in the list of ten states with the highest teen birth rates, researchers behind the latest study say increased religiosity in residents of states in the U.S. strongly predicted a higher teen birth rate. “With data aggregated at the state level, conservative religious beliefs strongly predict U.S. teen birth rates, in a relationship that does not appear to be the result of confounding by...

LONDON: A shortage of midwives and hospital beds is forcing thousands of British women to give birth outside maternity wards, putting the lives of babies and mothers at risk, a newspaper reported Wednesday. The Daily Mail said births outside maternity wards - in locations ranging from lifts to hospital toilets - went up 15 percent last year to almost 4,000. It said hundreds of women in labour are being turned away from hospitals because they are full. The paper quoted official information obtained by an opposition MP as showing women gave birth in ambulances, A&E departments, unspecified areas including corridors,...

John Edwards is moving the mother of his love child into his North Carolina neighborhood and will help raise their baby, The ENQUIRER reports exclusively. In a stunning change of heart, the disgraced 2 time presidential candidate loser - who's denied being the child's father for more than a year - has embraced fatherhood and wants to be intimately involved in the life of daughter Frances. The ENQUIRER also learned that his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth exploded in a rage when he told her of his parenting plans and that he's moving his mistress and baby to Wilmington, near his plush...

A young mother gave birth on a pavement outside a hospital after she was told to make her own way there. Mother-of-three Carmen Blake called her midwife to ask for an ambulance when she went into labour unexpectedly with her fourth child. But the 27-year-old claims she was refused an ambulance and told to walk the 100m from her house in Leicester to the city's nearby Royal Infirmary. Carmen Blake with her daughter Mariah Senior physiotherapist Helen Ivers with Mariah, the baby she delivered in Havelock Street, Leicester, before mum Carmen Blake could get to the maternity unit Her daughter...

The quote of the week comes from pregnant Czech supermodel Karolina Kurkova: "You know, it's probably the new thing to be pregnant. It's not to have the Chanel python bag. It's to be pregnant." The 25-year-old joins fellow Victoria Secret models Adriana Lima, Gisele Bundchen and Heidi Klum, who are also expecting. As for baby names, Kurkova won't say. "There are a few names that we like. But I'm keeping them a secret. I don't want Adriana or Heidi or Gisele stealing my baby's name."

Even moderate alcohol consumption while pregnant can have detrimental effects on the health of the child, a new report from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health has advised. Sweden looks to boost healthcare exports (28 Jul 09) Alcohol abuse on the rise for Swedish women (13 Jul 09) Swedes back al fresco smoking ban (1 Jun 09) The incidence of behavioural problems among children is higher among those whose mothers drank as little as one to four glasses of wine per week, the institute claims according to a report in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper. "The best thing to do...

"Even moderate alcohol consumption while pregnant can have detrimental effects on the health of the child, a new report from the Swedish National Institute of Public Health has advised."

Many may remember that my son's daughter and only child at that time -- was a victim of Acute Myleogenous Leukemia (adult form), diagnosed when she was nine years old. I have been a strong proponent of bone marrow transplants, because Jennifer is living proof of the success of that procedure. This started just over 11 years ago and the transplant did not take place for about three years -- Jennifer had about a 50/50 chance of survival -- which rose and fell over that time. Jennifer is now engaged, an incredibly beautiful young lady and she is pregnant. This...

A program operating on the University of North Carolina at Greensboro campus pays young girls not to get pregnant. Participants in the College Bound Sisters program earn $7 a week to stay baby-free. For 90 minutes a week, the girls learn about abstinence and the use of contraceptives while exploring the benefits of staying in school. The money earned is deposited into a fund and may be retrieved once the girl has enrolled in college. The program, funded by a grant from the state's Department of Health and Human Services, costs about $75,000 a year to operate. A total of...

WOMEN should embrace the full pain of childbirth to bond with their babies instead of resorting to anaesthetic drugs, a leading male midwife has said. UK professor Dr Denis Walsh said the pain of labour should be considered a "rite of passage" and a "purposeful, useful thing". The pain prepares women for the responsibilities of motherhood, he wrote in an international journal published yesterday. Australian obstetricians responded by saying women need to be free to make their own decisions. "It is a woman's choice and I don't think we have any good evidence to show that you have to have...

GREENSBORO -- A buck-a-day -- that's the incentive being offered to young girls to keep them from getting pregnant, WXII-TV reported. The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies. Brown said she hopes the program, which pays $1 each day to 12-to-18-year-old girls, will keep them from getting pregnant. In addition to remaining pregnancy-free, the girls must also attend weekly meetings. The program is funded by a four-year grant from the state. "Our three goals are that they avoid pregnancy,...

Health Reform: A critically ill premature baby is moved to a U.S hospital to get the treatment she couldn't get in the system we're told we should emulate. Cost-effective care? In Canada, as elsewhere, you get what you pay for.Ava Isabella Stinson was born last Thursday at St. Joseph's hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. Weighing only two pounds, she was born 13 weeks premature and needed some very special care. Unfortunately, there were no open neonatal intensive care beds for her at St. Joseph's — or anywhere else in the entire province of Ontario, it seems.

GREENSBORO -- A buck-a-day -- that's the incentive being offered to young girls to keep them from getting pregnant. The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies.

An Oregon woman was charged with murdering a 21-year-old expectant mother and her unborn baby after faking her own pregnancy. Korena Roberts, 28, of Washington County, is being held without bail Sunday after allegedly killing Heather Snively — whose body was found in the crawlspace of a house in Cedar Hills, Ore., according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. The nearly full-term fetus also died.

WHEN diseases like swine flu hit, pregnant women are especially at risk. And yet we know surprisingly little about how to treat them. In its guidelines for the antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that pregnant women infected or at high risk for infection should take the recommended adult dosage: “Pregnancy should not be considered a contraindication” to taking the drugs, because the benefits of treatment “likely outweigh the theoretical risks of antiviral use.” But we don’t know whether this is true. Concerns about the ethics of performing drug studies on pregnant women...

EVERY minute, a woman somewhere in the world dies in childbirth or from complications of pregnancy. But there is an inexpensive medicine that could save a great many of these women’s lives — misoprostol. Misoprostol is a generic drug originally developed to treat ulcers, but it’s predominately used off-label for obstetrics. When a mother takes it immediately after delivery, it can effectively stop the leading cause of maternal death in most developing countries: postpartum hemorrhage or excessive bleeding. What’s more, it’s an easy-to-take tablet with a long shelf life, so it’s suitable for the vast majority of women who deliver...

Tuesday May 12, 2009 Obama Calls for Condom Funding to Replace Abstinence Education By Kathleen GilbertWASHINGTON, D.C., May 12, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In President Obama's Fiscal Year 2010 Proposed Budget, the president recommends that Congress eliminate funding for abstinence education and instead pour funds into condoms and contraceptive-based sex education.The proposed budget calls for an additional $150 million for contraceptive-only education, which includes competitive grants, research, evaluation and authorization for $50 million in new mandatory condom grants to states, tribes and territories, according to an Abstinence Clearinghouse press release.The budget eliminates the $133 million set aside for CBAE (Community...

Bristol Palin's new abstinence campaign shines a light on the Republican Party's unhealthy attitude about sex and desire. BY MEGHAN MCCAIN The first time I ever heard about oral sex was during the Lewinsky scandal. Mostly, I remember being confused by President Clinton’s response—“it depends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is”. When it comes to sex, politicians face all sorts of double standards: who is allowed to have sex with whom, what constitutes sex, and whether it’s appropriate, to name a few. Candie’s Foundation’s announcement that they were partnering with Bristol Palin to promote an abstinence-only campaign has caused...

For many members of the Notre Dame Class of 2009, the uproar surrounding the university’s decision to honor Barack Obama with this year’s commencement address, and to bestow on him a doctorate of laws, has provoked strong feelings about what the ensuing conflict will mean for their graduation. I know how they feel. Ten years ago, my heart was filled with similar conflicts as we came closer to the day of my own Notre Dame commencement and my commissioning as an officer in the United States Army. You see, I was three months pregnant. That March, I had gone—alone—to a...

The Gift of Children by Mary Anne Hackett * I frequently give consideration to the problem in today’s anti-child society and how we might combat the terrible devaluation of children that is so prevalent in our country and worldwide. I believe that the attitudes we are witnessing are the result of the acceptance of contraception. With contraception, you remove God from your marriage and from your decision. People no longer consider what might please God, but rather what will please you. You begin to think you can decide when you will have a child, when a child fits into your...

Tuesday March 17, 2009 Courageous Mother Delays Chemotherapy Treatment for Cancer, Saves Lives of Twins By Hilary WhiteLIVERPOOL, March 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - While some doctors routinely offer abortion in the case of women who are pregnant and facing cancer treatments, one British housewife has demonstrated that it is not always necessary to make such a difficult situation into a death sentence for the unborn child. Rachel Crossland, a British housewife and mother of six who had been diagnosed with cancer, refused chemotherapy and radiation treatment when she was informed she was 13 weeks pregnant with twins. The Daily...

Monday March 9, 2009 Studies Find Contraception Makes Women Obese and Newborns Too Thin By Thaddeus M. BaklinskiOTTAWA, March 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - University of Ottawa researchers have found that women who conceive within a month of taking birth-control pills tend to have premature babies or babies with a low birth weight. At the same time, another study from the University of Texas has revealed that users of the contraceptive "shot" are significantly more likely than other women to become obese.Xi-Kuan Chen, an epidemiologist and senior analyst with the Canadian Institute for Health Information at the University of Ottawa said...

Cardinal James Stafford reflects on how dissenters to Humane Vitae tore the Church apart -- and how that rift left scars that remain to this day. "Lead us not into temptation" is the sixth petition of the Our Father. Peirasmòs, the Greek word used in this passage for 'temptation,' means a trial or test. Disciples petition God to be protected against the supreme test of ungodly powers. The trial is related to Jesus's cup in Gethsemane, the same cup which his disciples would also taste (Mk 10: 35-45). The dark side of the interior of the cup is an abyss....

DOJ Nominee ‘Shocked’ by Her Own Words Surprised at her own argument, Johnsen now says she did not mean what she plainly wrote. Indiana law professor Dawn Johnsen, Pres. Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Justice Department’s all-important Office of Legal Counsel, had her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday. During questioning by Sen. Arlen Specter, the professor professed to be “shocked” by my contention that she had once analogized pregnancy to involuntary servitude, a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment’s prohibition of slavery. I made this contention in a profile of Johnsen for the current (March 9) issue of National Review, which...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Bristol Palin loves motherhood, but the teenage daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she's not getting much sleep these days. Bristol Palin says in a two-part interview on Fox News Channel's "On the Record" that she wishes her pregnancy had "happened in, like, 10 years so I could have a job and an education and be, like, prepared and have my own house and stuff." Palin goes on to say that son Tripp, born Dec. 27, brings her so much joy, she doesn't regret having him at all. She's engaged to the baby's father, Levi...

Teen pregnancy? Not really a good idea. Stopping teen sex? Ain't gonna happen. So says Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, who told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren Monday night that the abstinence her mom preaches is "not realistic at all." Bristol Palin's pregnancy, revealed shortly after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate, shook up the last presidential campaign. Bristol Palin, who gave birth in late December, described the rigors of being a teen mom, and while she wouldn't go into detail why it isn't realistic for guys and gals her age not...

VACAVILLE -- The faint flickering seen in the middle of the screen was a strong heartbeat, a sign that the baby inside the womb is healthy and that the pregnancy is viable. It was the first time for Llanira Andrade to see the baby growing inside her, which is nine weeks now and will be born sometime in August. "It's amazing," she said. "It's such a tiny little thing that grows so rapidly." Andrade is one of many young women seeking assistance at Alpha Pregnancy Resource Center. The 26-year-old and her husband were "a little shocked and excited," Andrade said...

Lance Armstrong will soon have four children to go along with his seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong, 37, and his girlfriend Anna Hansen, 28, have announced they’re expecting a child next year. "Anna and I are thrilled to confirm that we are expecting in June and our families are ecstatic and grateful," Armstrong said via a statement. "We are very much looking forward to what 2009 brings on many fronts. We appreciate respecting our privacy, as we are both eager to celebrate the holidays as a family." The expected child of Armstrong and his girlfriend is via natural pregnancy.

Making the contraceptive pill available without prescription will not reduce unwanted pregnancies, says an expert in an article published on bmj.com today. Sarah Jarvis from the Royal College of Physicians argues that it is a lack of daily compliance with taking oral contraceptives which is partly responsible for the high rates of unintended teenage pregnancies in the UK.

Schizophrenia and autism probably share a common origin, hypothesises Dutch researcher Annemie Ploeger following an extensive literature study. The developmental psychologist demonstrated that both mental diseases have similar physical abnormalities which are formed during the first month of pregnancy.

A new study published online in The FASEB Journal shows that the equivalent of one dose of caffeine (just two cups of coffee) ingested during pregnancy may be enough to affect fetal heart development and then reduce heart function over the entire lifespan of the child. In addition, the researchers also found that this relatively minimal amount of exposure may lead to higher body fat among males, when compared to those who were not exposed to caffeine. Although the study was in mice, the biological cause and effect described in the research paper is plausible in humans.

WASHINGTON — Teenagers who watch programs like “Friends,” “That ’70s Show” or “Sex and the City” are more likely than their peers to get pregnant or get someone pregnant.That’s the finding of a recent study conducted by a behavioral scientist at the Rand research organization and published in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.The study, which tracked more than 700 sexually active teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 for three years, discovered that those who viewed the most sexual content on television were nearly twice as likely to get pregnant or get a girlfriend pregnant.“This is...

Ministers have ordered council and health chief executives to increase the uptake of "long-acting" contraception in teen pregnancy "hot spots". The government also wants more school-based clinics to administer the jabs,which can make girls infertile for up to three months. Teenagers can receive the injections or implants without their parents' knowledge. Critics warn that the controversial move will promote promiscuity and that injections and implants will not protect against the rampant spread of sexually transmitted disease. Some health experts also say that the drugs are unsuitable for girls who are still growing. In letters demanding "urgent action to accelerate progress...

Do you remember Barack Obama's outrageous and dishonest mock "Pro-Life" websites paid for by George Soros?Yeah, they were all a lie.One of the first moves by the most radical pro-abortion and infanticide candidate in the last 35 years will be to swell the number abortions both here and abroad. At least Obama is keeping his promise to Planned Parenthood. Barack Obama is looking to undo some 200 of George Bush's actions and executive orders...Including expanding abortive procedures.The Washington Post reported: Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders...

Teenagers who watch Sex in the City, Friends and other TV shows featuring sex scenes and discussions of sex are far more likely to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant than their peers, a new study has found. The study, which tracked more than 700 sexually active teenagers aged between 12 and 17 for three years, discovered that those who viewed the most sexual content were almost twice as likely to get pregnant or get their girlfriend pregnant as those who saw the least explicit TV. The study was lead by Anita Chandra, a behavioural scientist at RAND, an...

Teenagers who watch Sex in the City, Friends and other TV shows featuring sex scenes and discussions of sex are far more likely to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant than their peers, a new study has found. The study, which tracked more than 700 sexually active teenagers aged between 12 and 17 for three years, discovered that those who viewed the most sexual content were almost twice as likely to get pregnant or get their girlfriend pregnant as those who saw the least explicit TV. The study was lead by Anita Chandra, a behavioural scientist at RAND, an...

Teenagers who watch Sex in the City, Friends and other TV shows featuring sex scenes and discussions of sex are far more likely to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant than their peers, a new study has found. The study, which tracked more than 700 sexually active teenagers aged between 12 and 17 for three years, discovered that those who viewed the most sexual content were almost twice as likely to get pregnant or get their girlfriend pregnant as those who saw the least explicit TV. The study was lead by Anita Chandra, a behavioural scientist at RAND, an...

A study recently published in Human Reproduction demonstrated that intake of soy foods significantly reduces sperm counts in men. The study is especially significant because it is the largest study in humans to examine the relationship between semen quality and phytoestrogens (plant compounds that can mimic the physiological effects of the endogenous hormone, estrogen). Dr. Jorge Chavarro of the Harvard School of Public Health and his colleagues found that men who ate the most soy food had 41 million sperm per milliliter less than men who did not consume soy products. The normal sperm concentrations for men ranges between 80...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Pregnancy centers across the country that provide women with abortion alternatives could be shut down or face severe regulations if Barack Obama wins next month. That's because a bill targeting pregnancy centers could easily be approved in a pro-abortion Congress and land on Obama's desk.Obama has already promised pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL that he will be their lap dog in the White House and these are the groups leading the effort to pass the bill.Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey reintroduced the bill in April in the Senate and issued a statement alleging...

Pausing on the first day of school yesterday to consider the significance of another high-profile teen pregnancy, Hudson administrator Wendy Doremus said it demonstrated the need for substantive health education. "I don't believe we do enough of it in the schools," said Doremus, the district's health and nursing services director. "Other things take priority." Doremus spoke just days after news broke that the 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is five months pregnant and plans to marry. The subsequent national attention follows notable cases of youthful procreation this summer: 17-year-old starlet Jamie Lynn Spears' delivery and reports...

PROOF THAT OBAMA DELAGATES KNEW ABOUT BRISTOL, according to a contributor/blogger at obama's official site

Out-of-wedlock pregnancy is a common problem in 21st century American society. I hope to put this problem to expression and examine the relative ethical merits of two possible courses of action in simple mathematical terms. This is by necessity only an extremely rough sketch; it is the overriding idea that counts. For ease of reference, we will refer to these as Action A and Action B. A. Some pregnancies are concealed by removing the object of the pregnancy, as the baby is sucked out of its mother's womb and its body parts sent to a pathology lab. The selling point...