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Study: Chemicals in plastic can make boys act more like girlsBy Rosemary Black DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Monday, November 16th 2009, 4:09 PM Chemicals found in many plastics are causing little boys to act more like little girls, according to new research. A team at the University of Rochester studying the safety of phthalates -- chemicals in the plastic used in many household objects – found that they can actually disrupt hormones, according to BBC News. The chemicals affect the baby's developing brain by deactivating testosterone, the male sex hormone, according to the BBC. In the study, scientists tested urine...

cienceDaily (Nov. 5, 2009) — From their very first days, newborns' cries already bear the mark of the language their parents speak, reveals a new study published online in Current Biology. The findings suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, and certainly long before their first babble or coo. "The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are human neonates capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their fetal life,...

(Posted 08/28/09 www.RemnantNewspaper.com) They weigh less than 3 pounds, usually, and are perhaps 15 inches long. But “they can remember,” reports Jennifer Harper of The Washington Times (July 16, 2009): The unborn have memories, according to medical researchers who used sound and vibration stimulation, combined with sonography, to reveal that the human fetus displays short-term memory from at least 30 weeks gestation – or about two months before they are born. "In addition, results indicated that 34-week-old fetuses are able to store information and retrieve it four weeks later," said the research, which was released Wednesday. These findings were obtained...

August 25, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The two-hour National Geographic documentary 'In the Womb' is now available on YouTube in 9 parts.  Originally aired in 2005, the documentary used revolutionary techniques in computer imaging and 4-D ultrasounds to present stunning images of the developing embryo, taking viewers through the amazing journey of the unborn baby from conception to birth.   The video presents a remarkable visual apologetic for the pro-life message that human life begins with fertilization.  Showing the continuous development of the unborn child from conception to birth, it shatters all attempts to pinpoint any other time as the beginning...

"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."

CHICAGO -- Researchers for the first time have linked air pollution exposure before birth with lower IQ scores in childhood, bolstering evidence that smog may harm the developing brain. The results are in a study of 249 children of New York City women who wore backpack air monitors for 48 hours during the last few months of pregnancy. They lived in mostly low-income neighborhoods in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. They had varying levels of exposure to typical kinds of urban air pollution, mostly from car, bus and truck exhaust.

July 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - 30-week-old babies in the womb already have short-term memory capabilities, a new study from the Netherlands, published in the July/August 2009 issue of the journal Child Development, has found.Researchers at Maastricht University Medical Centre and the University Medical Centre St. Radboud examined 93 healthy pregnant Dutch women and their unborn children, measuring changes in how the child responds to repeated stimulation. The children were tested at 30, 32, 34, and 36 weeks, and again at 38 weeks gestation.  The study showed that the unborn children would initially respond to a "vibroacoustic" stimulus. The stimulus would...

They weigh less than 3 pounds, usually, and are perhaps 15 inches long. But they can remember. The unborn have memories, according to medical researchers who used sound and vibration stimulation, combined with sonography, to reveal that the human fetus displays short-term memory from at least 30 weeks gestation - or about two months before they are born.

Fetuses found to have memories By Jennifer Harper July 16, 2009 They weigh less than 3 pounds, usually, and are perhaps 15 inches long. But they can remember. The unborn have memories, according to medical researchers who used sound and vibration stimulation, combined with sonography, to reveal that the human fetus displays short-term memory from at least 30 weeks gestation - or about two months before they are born. "In addition, results indicated that 34-week-old fetuses are able to store information and retrieve it four weeks later," said the research, which was released Wednesday. Scientists from the Department of Obstetrics...

A new study found that unborn babies may start to develop memories as early as thirty weeks into a pregnancy, but ABC’s “Good Morning America” ignored the study’s potential impact on the abortion debate, especially concerning late term abortion. Reporter Sharyn Alfonsi’s July 15 segment covered the pivotal study without even mentioning abortion. Anchor Chris Cuomo attempted to broach the issue during a follow-up interview but fell short. Alfonsi touted the study, “Day by day, a fetus goes through remarkable changes. By 30 weeks, opening and closing their eyes. Making facial expressions. And now, a new study reveals, forming memories....

Welcome to American Life League's BabySteps DVD page! We're so glad you've found us. Please view the English-language narrated version of the video below and link to it often from your organization's web site. Help others see the miracle of life develop throughout a baby's 16 stages of growth. If you would like to view this video with audio narrations in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese (Mandarin), Chinese (Cantonese) or Spanish— just click on the appropriate flag to load the video in the corresponding language.

<p>Nearly 10 years after a stunning photograph of his tiny hand traveled the world, Samuel Armas has a firm grip on what "The Hand of Hope" means to him.</p> <p>"When I see that picture, the first thing I think of is how special and lucky I am to have God use me that way," Samuel told FOXNews.com. "I feel very thankful that I was in that picture."</p>

Good photos have a way of saying much more than words alone can ever express. They also become associated with human rights movements becoming a catalyst for major social change. So it is with the photograph of a little hand from a little boy. It was extending from the first home of his mothers womb and grasping the hand of a surgeon who was performing surgery upon him at the age of 21 weeks to correct spina bifida. It has become one of the most powerful images in the human rights struggle of our age, the struggle to stop the...

CBNNews.com - Millions of babies have been aborted in this country since abortion was legalized in 1973. And the battle has been raging ever since. But new hope is emerging for the pro-life side of the debate, as more and more pregnancy centers offer a window to the womb.

Babies exposed to high levels of the male hormone testosterone in the womb have an increased risk of autistic traits, groundbreaking research has found. The study found children who were exposed to higher levels of the chemical during foetal development are more likely to display autistic traits from an early age. The discovery takes prenatal screening for autism a significant step closer, raising the possibility that mothers could terminate babies with the condition. It also, more controversially, opens the way for a cure. Researchers made the discovery after monitoring the progress of 235 children whose mothers underwent amniotic fluid tests...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- He took the photograph that has become one of the most recognized pictures in the pro-life community and he shared his story with attendees at the National Right to Life convention. He recounted how a childhood filled with agony and despair led to a life-long dedication to advancing the pro-life perspective. The photographer is Michael Clancy and his picture is of Samuel Armas grabbing a doctor’s hand during the operation.Clancy grew up in a tough home where a rough upbringing and abuse of his siblings led him to contemplate suicide many times.“I’m not a professional...

If you're an expectant mother who likes to stand up for yourself, you could soon be cuddling a newborn son. Feisty women are more likely to give birth to boys than girls, according to scientists. High levels of testosterone in the womb - apparently evident in more aggressive women - provide a much better environment for the sperm coded to produce boys, they claim. But fiery females whose hearts are set on a daughter shouldn't throw out those pretty pink baby dresses just yet. So far the correlation has been proved only in tests on animals. The scientists who carried...

TOLEDO, OH, April 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an effort to present pre-natal development "in an educational and non-confrontational manner," the Foundation for Life organization has rented space in a local mall for its "Truth Booth," featuring a set of ultrasound images tracing the development of a child from seven weeks of age until birth.The unmanned display is in a rented kiosk in Westfield Franklin Park Shopping Mall."Being unmanned will actually help people just wander up to it. They won't feel threatened. They won't feel like there's any pressure. Any preachiness or debate that will take place…They'll debate this...

Omega-3 Intake During Last Months Of Pregnancy Boosts An Infant's Cognitive And Motor Development ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2008) — A study supervised by Université Laval researchers Gina Muckle and Éric Dewailly reveals that omega-3 intake during the last months of pregnancy boosts an infant's sensory, cognitive, and motor development. The details of this finding are published in a recent edition of the Journal of Pediatrics. To come to this conclusion, researchers first measured docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentration--a type of omega-3 fatty acid involved in the development of neurons and retinas--in the umbilical cord blood of 109 infants. "DHA concentration in...

Curvy mothers have brainier kids 10 November 2007 From New Scientist Print Edition. CURVIER women may have smart children because hip fat contains polyunsaturated fatty acids critical for the development of the fetus's brain. Using data from the US National Center for Health Statistics, William Lassek at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania and Steven Gaulin of the University of California, Santa Barbara, found a child's performance in cognition tests was linked to their mother's waist-hip ratio, a proxy for how much fat she stores on her hips. Children whose mothers had wide hips and a low waist-hip ratio scored...

link only per rules http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070731/UPDATES01/70731025/1002/NEWS01 Fetus is a person.

Via the placenta, a newborn baby receives a 6-month supply of antibodies from its mother, arming it against a world chock-full of allergy-causing particles and viruses. But it turns out that the baby may have been preparing its immune system for battle well before birth. New research indicates that developing fetuses are able to mount their own specific immune response to flu vaccines received by their mother. The findings could help end a debate over just how complex a fetus's immune system is. A fetus contains many kinds of immune cells, yet most immunologists believe those cells are too immature...

GO TO THE SITE FOR MORE PICTURES Images of Fetal Development The following images were presented to Fr. Frank Pavone, at the time he was working at the Vatican, by a team of experts from Poland. The experts presented them also to Pope John Paul II. Priests for Life is grateful to Professor Andrzej Skawina (Collegium Medicum Jagiellonian University, Krakow) and Dr. Antoni Marsinek, MD (Czerwiakowski Gynecological and Obstetrics Hospital, Krakow) for making these images available, and to the Zrodlo Foundation, Wychowawca Department, for the permission to use them. We encourage pro-life groups and individuals to use these images,...

n the debate about the moral standing of human embryos, some defenders of embryo-destructive research have claimed that human embryos are not human beings until implantation (i.e., when the embryo attaches to the uterus, approximately six days after fertilization), and others have claimed that they are not human beings until gastrulation (i.e., when the possibility of twinning no longer exists and the primitive neural streak first appears, approximately 14 days after fertilization). These claims have been repeated by policymakers, scientists, and bioethicists alike, yet they fly in the face of the embryological evidence. Seeing why will put the embryo research...

Close window Published online: 7 August 2006; | doi:10.1038/news060807-2 Ultrasound sends neurons down wrong pathStudy raises questions over prenatal procedure.Helen Pearson Neurons grow awry in the brains of baby mice exposed to 30 minutes of ultrasound.© BSIP, SERCOMI / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY The type of ultrasound used to scan babies in the womb disturbs brain cells in mouse fetuses, say researchers. The finding fuels a debate about the safety of the technique for unborn babies. Babies in the womb are routinely scanned using high-frequency sound waves. The scans allow doctors to check on growth rates and spot developmental abnormalities....

Via ACLU website: The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland applauded today’s decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals unanimously ruling that the reckless endangerment statute does not apply to women who take drugs while pregnant. “The ACLU of Maryland is heartened that the high court agrees that prosecuting drug-dependent pregnant women is not what the state of Maryland considers good policy,” said David Rocah, staff attorney for the ACLU of Maryland. “We believe that using criminal law to regulate a pregnant woman’s conduct on the theory that it might harm a fetus or her newborn child is counterproductive, illegal,...

ANN ARBOR, August 2, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a July 26 column that reads almost like a parody of the slogans of the abortion movement, a sophomore at Michigan State University has declared that the unborn child is a parasite, similar to a tapeworm that should be "annihilated." Writing for The State News, the campus paper of Michigan State University, one of the largest univerities in the U.S., Shane Krouse writes, "The fetus is merely a wad of cells. A mere wad of cells doesn't equate to a fully functioning, living human being. A wad of cells cannot make its own...

What are they teaching our children at MSU in East Lansing, Michigan? It appears to be that a human fetus is no different than a "tapeworm" or a "parasitical creature". They are also teaching that a newspaper is the proper place for devaluing human life as a recent article by Shane Krouse in The State News proves. Shane Krouse, a sophomore and State News columnist, directly and unequivocally equates the human fetus, which he rather unscientifically describes as "a wad of cells", to parasites. He doesn’t stop with parasites, but goes much further than that, of course, as he lambastes...

A new study finds that unborn babies regularly exposed to cigarette smoke in the womb are much more likely to have behavioral problems as young children. The study, detailed in current issue of the journal Child Development, is the first to show a link between smoking during pregnancy and child behavior problems in the first years of life. The researchers found that 2-year-olds whose mothers were exposed to cigarette smoke while pregnant were nearly 12 times more likely to show clinical levels of behavioral problems compared to their unexposed peers. The researchers looked at 93 children between their first and...

A new study has found that cannabis use by pregnant women has a significant negative effect on their babies' health. The study was carried out by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. In what it describes as the largest study of its kind, the research centre analysed more than 400,000 live births over a five-year period, studying the effects of cannabis, opiods and stimulants, on the developing foetus. Dr Lucy Burns says it showed that cannabis smoking had a major effect. "Cannabis use seemed to have quite a significant impact on the baby in terms of the baby's weight...

EXCLUSIVE Children exposed to high levels of city air pollution while in the womb are nearly three times more likely to have mental deficiencies than other kids, an explosive Columbia University study has found. The analysis compared the learning ability of 183 3-year-olds from Harlem, Washington Heights and the South Bronx with the level of pollutants they were exposed to before birth. The moms wore air monitors while they were pregnant, and the kids are being studied over a number of years. The study found that 42 kids exposed to the highest readings of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in utero -...

Fetus' Feet Show Fish, Reptile Vestiges By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News May 18, 2006 — The feet of human embryos taking shape in the womb reveal links to prehistoric fish and reptiles, a new study finds. Human feet may not look reptilian once babies emerge from the womb, but during development the appendages appear similar to prehistoric fish and reptiles. The finding supports the theory that mammalian feet evolved from ancient mammal-like reptiles that, in turn, evolved from fish. It also suggests that evolution -- whether that of a species over time or the developmental course of a single organism...

FRIDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- Fetuses cannot feel pain, therefore U.S. legislation requiring doctors to tell women that the fetus will feel pain, or to provide pain relief during abortions, has no scientific basis and may harm the women involved, a leading expert contends. "This is an unwarranted piece of legislation because there is good evidence that the fetus cannot feel pain at any stage of gestation," said Stuart Derbyshire, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Birmingham, U.K. He authored an review of the available data on the subject in the April 15 issue of the British...

PHOENIX, Arizona, April 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) –Arizona’s governor has vetoed a bill that would require abortionists to tell women that their unborn babies may suffer pain during abortion. Gov. Janet Napolitano, a Democrat who has vetoed pro-life legislation in the past, said, “The Legislature should not attempt to substitute its judgment for that of trained physicians with respect to professional advice given to patients.”HB 2254 would have required that a woman at least 20 weeks pregnant be told that her unborn child “has the physical structures necessary to experience pain,” reported the Arizona Daily Star.Doctors would also have to tell...

Research Confirms Unborn Learning About Outside World February 24, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - New research funded by Pampers has confirmed that the unborn are actively learning about the outside world.The study group found that from at least 25 weeks, the unborn can recognize their mother's voice, and can react to taste, touch, and sound, as reported by Ireland On Line.See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: Science Reveals Unborn can Dream, Smell, Hear, Remember Events and Feel Pain http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/may/04051707.html British Study Shows Unborn Are 'Conscious Before 24 Weeks'http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/mar/03031006.html Science Reveals Unborn can Dream, Smell, Hear, Remember Events and Feel PainROME, May 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com)...

ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK -- New research has linked the use of Prozac and other similar antidepressants during pregnancy to yet another complication in newborns: an uncommon but life-threatening lung problem. Infants whose mothers took the antidepressants in the second half of pregnancy had six times the expected risk of developing the lung disorder, the researchers reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The antidepressants implicated are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, a class of drugs that includes Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft. "This is the latest in a series of troubling reports of possible adverse effects of...

HARLINGEN - Tortillas made with contaminated corn may have caused a rash of newborns with missing or rudimentary brains in the Rio Grande Valley in the 1990s, new data suggest. According to the February issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers now have human studies linking a toxin in corn mold called fumonisin with babies' neural tube defects. Scientists have been searching more than a decade for answers to the surge of anencephalic babies - babies born without brains or with underdeveloped brains - in the Rio Grande Valley from 1990-92. There were six such cases in six weeks...

September 19, 2003 All of Britain was buzzing last week after a tabloid published highly controversial photos -- not of a topless supermodel or two female pop singers kissing or Prince William in a grass skirt but of angelic babies smiling in the womb. The ultrasound images, taken between 26 and 34 weeks after conception, were released by Professor Stuart Campbell and widely circulated on the Internet via the Drudge Report. Campbell's an obstetrician at the privately run Create Health Centre in London. For the past two years, the medical facility has offered state-of-the-art 3-D/4-D scanning equipment services to expectant...

2006Central Florida prenatal doctors are calling for a stop to so-called "keepsake" ultrasound souvenir photos of unborn babies that are sometimes performed by unqualified workers, according to a Problem Solvers report.Local 6 News reported that the debate over "keepsake" ultrasounds is playing out in several states. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has already stopped them, according to the report.Insurance does not pay for the photos and most doctors will not prescribe them. However, the "keepsake" ultrasound franchise has become a hit, according to the report.The United Imaging Partners company lists seven franchise sites in Florida, including Orlando. Fetal Specialist Dr....

Fish diet 'brings a brighter baby' By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 20/01/2006) Pregnant women who eat more fish, which contains omega-3 fatty acids, tend to have brighter, more sociable children, claim researchers. The amount of omega-3 helps to determine the child's intelligence, fine motor skills - the ability to manipulate small objects and hand and eye co-ordination - and the propensity to anti-social behaviour, says a study by Dr Joseph Hibbeln, of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.Omega-3 is found in oily fish like salmon The findings, which were presented to a meeting in London this week, show...

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Women have yet another reason to stop smoking while pregnant. In the largest study of its kind, plastic surgeons found smoking during pregnancy significantly elevates the risk of having a child with excess, webbed or missing fingers and toes, according to the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). In fact, the study found that smoking just half a pack per day increases the risk of having a child born with a toe or finger defect by 29 percent. “Reconstructive surgery to repair limb,...

The next time you complain about your kid not having his/her greens just think whether you had the right kind of food during pregnancy, as researchers have now found that flavours experienced in the womb and, later, in mothers' milk may have a significant influence on what children are willing to eat. Research shows that the experience of food eaten by pregnant women and mothers can be transmitted to their foetuses and infants, according to a nutritionist, Julie Mennella. Those first flavours can play a major role in determining a child's later food preferences. The research suggests that one way...

He's played a fighter pilot, sports agent and samurai onscreen – but is Tom Cruise now preparing to imitate an obstetrician in real life? In an interview taped Oct. 30 with Barbara Walters for her upcoming special Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2005, which airs Nov. 29 on ABC, Cruise revealed his latest purchase for his expectant fiancée Katie Holmes. "I bought a sonogram machine," Cruise told Walters. "I am gonna donate it to a hospital when we are done." Added Walters: "Wait, you are going to do your own sonogram?" "Yes," said Cruise, laughing. The...

SCIENTISTS have captured graphic images of the damage done to unborn babies as a result of women drinking during pregnancy. Just one glass of wine a week can make babies “jump” in the womb throughout a nine-month pregnancy. Experts believe this abnormal hyperactive behaviour is the result of alcohol slowing or retarding the formation of the central nervous system. Doctors have warned for decades that women who consume large amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can affect their child’s mental development. The Department of Health (DoH) advises pregnant women to limit their alcohol to one or two glasses of wine a...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who drink eight or more cups of coffee daily while pregnant are at risk for spontaneous abortion and stillbirth, Danish researchers report. In their study, they found that fetal death was twice as likely among heavy coffee drinkers relative to pregnant women who did not drink coffee. Adjusting for other risk factors weakened the association somewhat, but heavy coffee drinkers remained at 59 percent greater risk of fetal death, Dr. Bodil Hammer Bech of the University of Aarhus and colleagues report. Women who drank four to seven cups daily had a 33 percent increased...

5-October-2005 -- ZENIT.org News Agency WHAT THE UNBORN SENSE IN THE WOMB Interview With Dr. Carlo BellieniROME, OCT. 5, 2005 (Zenit.org).- During its gestation the fetus is "already a member of the family and company for the mother even before being born," says neonatologist Carlo Bellieni. Dr. Bellieni of the Department of Neonatal Intensive Therapy of the University Polyclinic Santa Maria Le Scotte of Siena talked with ZENIT about his research on life-before-birth for his latest book "L'Alba dell'Io" (Dawn of the I), published by Società Editrice Fiorentina. Q: Until the 1980s it was thought that the maternal uterus was a...

Interview With Dr. Carlo Bellieni ROME, OCT. 4, 2005 (Zenit.org).- During its gestation the fetus is "already a member of the family and company for the mother even before being born," says neonatologist Carlo Bellieni. Dr. Bellieni of the Department of Neonatal Intensive Therapy of the University Polyclinic Santa Maria Le Scotte of Siena talked with ZENIT about his research on life-before-birth for his latest book "L'Alba dell'Io" (Dawn of the I), published by Società Editrice Fiorentina. Q: Until the 1980s it was thought that the maternal uterus was a sort of strongbox for the fetus. What has changed since...

CHEYENNE -- One of the many people following the Lander "meth baby" case was Rep. Elaine Harvey of Lovell. The Republican lawmaker is the chief sponsor of the 2004 felony child endangerment law the defendant, Michele Ann Foust, 31, was charged under. Harvey said Wednesday she is having an amendment drafted to make it clear the law applies to an unborn child as well as a child. The lack of a clear definition in the law caused District Judge Norman Young to dismiss charges against Foust. "I thought we were covered. The intent was to protect unborn children but apparently...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An infant's first cry may occur not in the delivery room, but in the womb, researchers have found. ADVERTISEMENT With the help of video-recorded ultrasound images, the investigators found that a group of third-trimester fetuses showed evidence of "crying behavior" in response to a low-decibel noise played on the mother's abdomen. Fetuses showed a "startle" response to the noise, along with deep inhalations and exhalations, an open mouth and a "quivering" chin -- all signs of crying. The behavior, seen in 11 fetuses, began as early as the 28th week of pregnancy. It was only...

Phil Magnan, Executive Director of Biblical Family Advocates is calling on all Americans to consider a recent study that has shown that the child in the womb exhibits very familiar human behaviors in the womb. The pre born child not only cries in the womb, but "even their bottom lip quivers." So said New Zealand Pediatrician Ed Mitchell who helped with the U.S. study. The study revealed that the pre born child cries in the womb at 28 weeks. "Every mother recognizes the very human trait of the 'little quivering lower lip of their child', that usually stirs up great...