Male and female babies during pregnancy show different growth and development patterns following stressors during pregnancy such as disease, cigarette use or psychological stress.

The research is being carried out by the Robinson Institute’s Pregnancy and Development Group, based at the Lyell McEwin Hospital and led by Associate Professor Vicki Clifton.

‘What we have found is that male and female babies will respond to a stress during pregnancy by adjusting their growth patterns differently,’ said Associate Professor Clifton.

‘The male, when mum is stressed, pretends it’s not happening and keeps growing, so he can be as big as he possibly can be. The female, in response to mum’s stress, will reduce her growth rate a little bit; not too much so she becomes growth restricted, but just dropping a bit below average.

‘When there is another complication in the pregnancy – either a different stress or the same one again – the female will continue to grow on that same pathway and do okay but the male baby doesn’t do so well and is at greater risk of pre-term delivery, stopping growing or dying in the uterus.’

Associate Professor Clifton said this sex-specific growth response had been observed in pregnancies complicated by asthma, pre-eclampsia and cigarette use but was also likely to occur in other stressful events during pregnancy such as psychological stress.

She said this sex-specific growth pattern was a result of changes in placental function caused by the stress hormone cortisol.

In female babies, increased cortisol produces changes to the placental function which lead to the reduction in growth, but the increased cortisol levels in a mother carrying a male baby doesn’t produce the same changes in placental function.

Associate Professor Clifton said this research could lead to sex-specific therapies in pre-term pregnancies and premature newborns. It was also important in helping obstetricians more accurately interpret growth and development of the fetus in at-risk pregnancies.

‘We are looking at what events during pregnancy cause changes in how the baby grows, what’s behind this and ways in which we can improve the outcomes for pregnant women and their babies,’ she said.

Provided by University of Adelaide

Filmmaker Thomas Balmes set about following four different babies, from birth to first steps – like an old-school nature film, one that allows its images and characters to tell the story for it.

Balmes and his producers found four families – one each in the veldt of Namibia, the plains of Mongolia, the high-rises of Tokyo and the cozier urban enclave of San Francisco. Then he and his camera spent 400 days over the course of two years, filming these babies through various stages of development through that first year and beyond.

Their circumstances couldn’t be more different. Little Ponijao seems to live within an extended matriarchy, involving his mother, aunts and various sisters and brothers, in mud huts on the veldt. Bayarjargal has Mongolian herders for parents and lives in a portable yurt, along with dogs, cats, chickens, goats and sheep.

Mari lives a fast-paced life in Tokyo, with playgroups and time spent with both parents. Hattie’s Bay Area parents also seem to indulge her, while trying to live an Earth-friendly existence.

There is no story other than the babies experiencing the world. But even in its relatively brief (82 minutes) running time, you can see amazing changes in these tots.

What’s startling is the degree to which you can see them absorbing their experiences. From a surprisingly young age, as their focal point lengthens and they become aware of their surroundings, they are ingesting information, stored away until their hands and legs are suitably operational to explore further. What happens if I pull the cat’s tail? What do my toes taste like? What’s that over there?

That’s the scope of a baby’s world – but it grows daily, as this film shows. Their awareness of their parents, their siblings, their parents and surroundings and toys – it is like a daily explosion of learning – most amazingly of retained learning. There’s also, from a dazzlingly young age, a sense of entitlement to the world around it by the baby. Infancy is a constant struggle to experience everything you can see, to put everything in your mouth at least once, before your mother tells you not to.

That’s what Babies understands and what it shows. And it does it without a single voice addressing the audience in any way. The produces don’t try to define or analyze or examine the babies’ behavior in the way that too many nature films do – hello, Meerkat Manor? It just lets these children be in front of the camera, within those moments when they’re left to their own devices, as well as when they’re interacting with their parents.

Once they start to talk, of course, it’s a whole different ballgame. But as Babies shows, these kids have a well-developed language of their own, long before the words start to come.

In the following article, I will tell you three steps that can raise your odds of getting pregnant with a boy to one as high as over 90%.

It’s All About Getting The Y Sperm Chromosome To Fertilize The Egg First: Natural gender selection really comes down to one thing – which sperm chromosome (X or Y) gets to and fertilizes your waiting, healthy egg first. If the Y is the victor, you’ll have a boy. The same is true if the X edges out the Y.

But, nature has upped the odds by giving these guys very different characteristics. The boy sperm are much faster than the girls, but are also much weaker. So, each chromosome has an advantage and a weakness that you can exploit to get the gender that you want. Since you want a boy, you’ll need to maximize the Y’s speed while downplaying it’s weakness.

The Timing That Gives The Y Guys The Advantage: Remember that the boy sperm can’t live for very long because of their weakness. So, you’ll want to conceive on the day that you ovulate (or the day after, at the very latest) so that these weak fellows don’t have to sit, weakening by the hour, waiting for your egg. If you are even a day early, many of the Y’s will have already weakened of died off.

Obviously, it’s so important to know when you ovulate. You must know this with razor sharp accuracy. Don’t make the common mistake of just guesstimating half way through your menstrual cycle or trying to interpret arbitrary temperature or cervical mucus. Use a method that gives you a concrete yes / no answer. I like ovulation predictors for this. And, I particularly like the saliva predictors because they are cheaper in the long run, reusable, and extremely accurate. Plus, you aren’t limited to only early in the morning or first morning urine.

The Sexual Positions That Favor The Y Or Baby Boy Producing Sperm: Again, we are trying to downplay the fact that the boy sperm can’t live for a very long time. Another way to do this is to use deep sexual penetration positions that place the sperm right where it needs to be so that it doesn’t have a long, hostile trip. Examples are rear entry positions or seated female dominant.

Why You Probably Need To Lower Your Acidity And PH If You’re Trying To Get Pregnant With A Boy Baby: The final piece of this puzzle is manipulating your acidity and PH. The reason for this is that the boy sperm will quickly be quite compromised in a highly acidic vagina. You can find out just how acidic yours really is by testing with PH test strips that you can get at a health food store. It should then be pretty obvious if you are naturally alkaline or acidic.

To conceive a boy, you will need a pretty low PH or alkaline vagina. You can achieve this in a few ways. The first is to load your diet with alkaline foods and to omit acidic foods. I know this probably doesn’t sound too appetizing, but you’re not restricting your calories, only your acidic foods. And, you only need to do it until you reach your optimal alkaline reading. There are food list to help with this.

The other way to alkalize your body is to douche. I’m not typically taking baking soda and water unless you are already extremely alkaline already. Which solution you use is going to depend on the reading you are getting with the strips. Again, there are recipes that make this pretty painless and you can keep right on testing so that you know when to stop.

I realize that many women think that douching is old fashioned, but again you only need to do this until you reach the correct level. (And, frankly, it you use both the food and the douching methods, you’ll likely get the results you need much more quickly so that you don’t have to do either for very long.)

The most important thing to remember when getting pregnant with a boy baby is using all of these things to give the Y guys their best chance. You need to weed out the X sperm so that everything in your vaginal tract is Y – so that the only possible outcome is a son. And, the best way to do this is to make sure you address all of these things. Omitting even one would likely let some X’s slip through, which is exactly what you don’t want.

Conceive A Boy is a website I set up to make the process of having a son a bit easier. I’ve included step by step instructions and resources for the douching recipes, food lists, and PH testing strips mentioned in this article as well as hints, tips, and support. Check it out if you like at http://conceive-a-boy-baby.com/

You probably suspect (or are at least researching) that there are natural, inexpensive ways that you can do this at home, without expensive medical intervention. This article will outline tips and advice that you will help you achieve this goal and will explain why these things work, (and how they work best.)

Understanding Baby Girl Producing Sperm: First, I want to briefly go into how conception (with either gender) happens and how you can use some of the characteristics of the different sperm chromosomes to your advantage. The father-to-be’s sperm contains X (girl) and Y (boy) producing chromosomes. Only one of these will be the first to fertilize the egg. If a Y wins, you get a boy and the opposite is true if the X does the job. In this trip to the egg, the boy sperm are by far the fastest, but also by far the weakest. They are seriously weakened and compromised by time and by your vaginal tract (and by the environment that they will encounter once there.)

Likewise, although the girl producing sperm are slow, they are by far the stronger of the two. Time and your vaginal PH do not affect them nearly as much. You can use this to your great advantage when it is time to conceive. I will outline how to do this below.

Timing For A Baby Girl Conception: So, now we know that time is on our side if we’re trying to conceive a girl. It makes sense then to use this to your full advantage. The girl sperm can live for several days in your vaginal tract, but the boy can not. So, you should conceive 3 – 4 days before you will ovulate.

This sounds so easy, but this is where many women will miscalculate. So many women assume that they ovulate half way between their menstrual cycle and are wrong about this. Or, they will use methods taught to them by their mothers (basal temperature, cervical mucus, the rhythm method, etc.) without realizing that technology has given us much more reliable ways to know exactly when we can become pregnant.

I’m talking about ovulation predictors that take the guess work out of this equation. There are two kinds – saliva and urine. I’ve used both with success, but I much prefer the saliva kind as I believe they are more reliable and are able to give you more advanced notice. I like that they are reusable and that you can use them at any time during the day and not just first thing in the morning as is the case with urine (and urine predictors also give you only one chance per day.)

The Correct Sexual Positions If You Want A Female Baby: So, we’ve talked about the trip that the sperm take to the egg and how we need to make this longer to weed out the boy sperm. One way that we do this (as we discussed above) is timing our conception in the early part of the fertility window. Another easy way to do this is by using sexual positions that place the sperm far away from the cervix. This is achieved through shallow penetration (missionary style, spooning, etc.) And, this gives the boy sperm a long trip that is hard for them to survive.

Why A High PH Is Necessary If You Want A Daughter: Speaking of that long, hard trip, the final piece of the puzzle is creating a hostile environment that the boy sperm will encounter during this trip. As I’ve said before, Y sperm are very vulnerable and weak. A high PH or acidity is just another variable that helps to weed them out. Of everything that I’ve discussed, this is the variable that scares people the most. But, it’s not as scary as it sounds. Raising your vaginal PH is not too difficult if you have the correct tools and it’s only a temporary thing that you have to do until you reach the optimal level and then conceive.

The best way to make this easier is to know your level going in. This is accomplished using testing strips that are readily available. Once you know if you’re naturally alkaline or acidic (and how high) you’ll then make the necessary adjustments and continue to test to see how quickly you are making progress.

You raise acidity in two ways. You douche or you go on a special diet. Or, if you’re really impatient, you do both. Again, there are food lists and douche recipes out there that help to make this easier.

It’s important to understand that all of these variables work together to give you a very high chance of success. But, you can’t do just one and leave the others to chance. You have to approach this in a step by step, disciplined way. Pinpoint your ovulation date first and then get to work. Figure out your PH, adjust accordingly, and then when the time is right, use the sexual or intercourse positions that were outlined before.

Good Luck

Doctors recommend that couples who are trying to have a baby have intercourse between days 10 and day 20 of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Studies have shown that having intercourse every other day works just as well as having intercourse every day in order to become pregnant.

If you have an irregular menstrual cycle and are no sure when or if you are ovulating, ovulation predictor kit can help. These kits, which can be bought at most drug stores, check for LH (luteinizing hormone) in the urine.

There are other various methods to help detect when you are most likely to be able to conceive a baby.

Evaluating Your Cervical Fluid

Cervical fluid protects the sperm and helps it move through the cervix toward the uterus and fallopian tubes. Cervical fluid changes in preparation for ovulation. You will notice clear differences in how it looks and feels over the course of the cycle.

* Menstrual period occurring (no cervical fluid is present)

* Vagina is dry (no cervical fluid is present)

* Sticky/rubbery fluid

* Wet/creamy/white fluid — FERTILE

* Slippery/stretchy/clear “egg white” fluid — VERY FERTILE

* Dry (no cervical fluid)

The cervical fluid will be slippery and stretchy on your most fertile days. You can use your fingers to check the consistency of your cervical fluid. Find the fluid inside the lower end of the vagina. Tap your thumb and first finger together — if the material stretches while you spread your thumb and finger apart, this could mean ovulation is near.

Taking Your Basal Temperature

After you ovulate, your body temperature will rise and stay at an elevated level for the rest of your ovulation cycle. At the end of your cycle, it falls again.

You can use a special thermometer to take your temperature in the morning before you get out of bed. Use a glass basal thermometer or a digital thermometer so that you can get accuracy to the tenth of a degree. Keep the thermometer in your mouth for 5 minutes. Try not to move too much, as activity can raise your body temperature slightly. If your temperature is between two marks, record the lower number. Try to take your temperature at the same time every day, if possible.

Create a chart and write down your temperature everyday. If you look at a complete cycle, you will probably notice a point at which the temperatures become higher than they were in the first part of your cycle. More specifically, the rise is when your temperature increases 0.2 degrees above the previous 6 days.

Temperature is a useful indicator of fertility. After monitoring several cycles, you may be able to see a predictable pattern and get a sense for your most fertile days.

Review Date:1/18/2007

Reviewed By:Douglas A. Levine, MD, Gynecology Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

That’s the conclusion of two reports to be presented July 9 at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction & Embryology, in Barcelona, Spain.

While semen samples from diabetics look normal under the microscope, a closer examination revealed DNA damage, Dr. Con Mallidis, of Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, said in a news release issued by the conference sponsors.

“Sperm RNA was significantly altered, and many of the changes we observed are in RNA transcripts involved in DNA repair,” he said. “And comparison with a database of men of proven fertility confirmed our findings. Diabetics have a significant decrease in their ability to repair sperm DNA, and once this is damaged, it cannot be restored.”

Sperm DNA quality is known to be tied to decreased embryo quality, low embryo implantation rates, higher miscarriage rates and some serious childhood diseases, including cancers.

“We found a class of compounds known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the male reproductive tract. These are formed as the result of glycation (the addition of sugar),” Mallidis said, “and accumulate during normal aging. They are dependent on lifestyle, diet, smoking, etc., and in many diabetic complications are centrally implicated in DNA damage. We believe that they play a similar role in the male reproductive system.”

The researchers plan to now determine how AGEs cause and contribute to DNA damage.

Obesity, which often plays a factor in diabetes, and being too thin, was also found to cause problems with sperm. In a separate study, scientists found that men with a higher body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) had less seminal fluid and more abnormal sperm.

The findings showed that men with an optimal BMI of 20 to 25 had higher levels of normal sperm than those who were either overweight or underweight. They also had higher semen volume.

The researchers did not look at DNA damage in the sperm, though.

“Our findings were quite independent of any other factors,” scheduled presenter A. Ghiyath Shayeb, from the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland, said in the news release from the conference, “and seem to suggest that men who are trying for a baby with their partners should first try to achieve an ideal body weight.”

“Adopting a healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet, and regular exercise will, in the vast majority of cases, lead to a normal BMI,” he said. “We are pleased to be able to add improved semen quality to the long list of benefits that we know are the result of an optimal body weight.”

Initially the contagious area is pretty small and only creates a scaly patch but as time progress so does the area affected.

Treatment for the condition  can include natural home remedies, over-the-counter creams and shampoos, as well as prescribed anti-fungal medication. If you suspect your baby has ringworm, consult baby care professional to test baby skin. But here are a few tips on how you can tackle the problem from a naturally.

• One of the best ideas is to mix tea tree oil into warm water makes sure the water is warm enough but not too hot as it can burn the baby’s skin. Rinse the clean cloth into the mixture, and gently rub it onto the baby’s ringworm. Repeat this process 3 to 4 times daily for two weeks. Tea tree oil can be acquired at most drug stores and natural health stores.

• Apply anti-fungal cream to baby skin; wash your hands with soap & warm water to avoid contaminating the cream. Squeeze a pea-sized amount of the cream onto your finger and rub a thin layer on your baby’s affected area. Apply the cream to the area 3 to 4 times daily until ringworm disappears. Contact your doctor immediately if a side effect occurs via a cream.

• Wash your baby’s scalp with anti-fungal shampoo as it assists in killing fungus. Wet a washcloth with warm water and gently rub it on your baby’s scalp, followed by pouring a quarter-sized amount of shampoo onto your hands. Rub the shampoo on your baby’s scalp, and rinse it off with warm water. You can also use no tears formulated baby shampoo

• Avoid other kids and adults to be in contact with baby until infection clears. Ringworm is highly contagious and might be spread to other kids and adults through skin-to-skin contact or touching an object with which the baby previously came in contact.

• To prevent further ringworm infections, keep your baby’s skin dry and clean. It’s also a good idea to check pets to be sure that they do not have a ringworm infection that can be passed on to your baby.

• Raw papaya is also recovered alternative for treating ringworm. Rub some slices of papaya on the ringworm patches. A paste made of dried papaya seeds can also be applied on the ringworm patches.

• Mustard seeds are also better alternative to cure ringworm. A paste of mustard seeds should be applied over the patches after washing the skin with warm water.

Always remember, however, if you are in any doubt about your child’s health consult a qualified health care professional

Millions of parents are left with a substantial hole in their pocket after kitting out a nursery, coupled with the added cost of clothes, nappies, bedding, toys and food.

On top of that car seats, pushchairs and other bits and pieces also send the cost soaring for first-time mums and dads.

But one in three parents admitted they ‘got a bit carried away’ and overspent hugely in preparation for their new arrival.

And 52 per cent of these purchased made during the first half of pregnancy as excitement and hormones kicked-in.

Deneice Harwin, from Philips Avent, said: ”Our research shows that three quarters of new parents worried about how they would cope financially before their baby had even arrived, so clearly money is a major concern.

”We know that new parents can often get caught-up in a ‘new baby shopping frenzy’, as a third agreed that they spent more than they needed, buying things they didn’t even use.

”By doing a little research into what they will really need, and buying good quality items which will last, new parents can save an average of £136 when baby arrives.

Read The Rest Of The Story HERE

“Practice makes perfect,” say Hermundur Sigmundsson, a professor of psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Now Sigmundsson and Brian Hopkins, a professor of psychology from Lancaster University have shown that baby swimming is good for developing balance and movement in infants and young children.

Very clear results

The study involved comparing 19 baby swimmers against a control group of 19 children who had not participated in baby swimming. The only factor that separated baby swimmers from the control group was swimming. All other factors, such as the parents’ education, housing and economic status, were the same.

The baby swimmers had participated in swimming classes for two hours a week from the age of 2-3 months until they were about 7 months old. A typical session might involve helping the baby do a somersault on a floating mat, having the baby dive under water, jump from the pool edge, and balance on the hand of a parent while reaching to pick up floating objects.

At approximately age 5, both baby swimmers and the control group were tested with similar exercises. The exercises included walking on tiptoes, balancing on one foot, skipping rope, rolling a ball into a goal and catching a beanbag. The results were crystal clear, the researchers say.

“We saw very clearly that baby swimmers were the best in exercises that related to balance and the ability to reach for things,” says Sigmundsson.

Swimming in Iceland

The survey took place in Iceland, which is Sigmundsson’s homeland.

“Water is as important to Icelanders as snow is for Norwegians. A typical Icelander swims on average once or twice a week, and there is great deal of interest in baby swimming. I know an instructor who has been teaching baby swimming for 20 years. He had a great deal of information about children who have participated in swimming courses. So it was natural for us to conduct the study in Iceland,” Sigmundsson says.

Sigmundsson says he was simply overwhelmed by what the instructor was able to get the babies to do.

“The instructor was able to bring three-month-old babies right up to a balanced position, standing on his palm. The babies locked joints — it was amazing to watch,” Sigmundsson says.

He believes the survey shows that specific training in young children gives results.

“It’s incredibly exciting that specific training for young babies has an effect later in life. Development is a dynamic interplay between maturation, growth, experience and learning. Our study shows that we must never underestimate the learning aspect,” Sigmundsson concludes.

Dubbed the ‘human baby factory’ Theresa Winters last year defiantly vowed to continue having babies until she was allowed to keep one.

However, the 37-year-old has now pledged to stop reproducing to prove to social services that she can be trusted to look after her children, who were taken away over fears of neglect.

Ms Winters and partner Toney Housden, also 37, saw their 14 baby, a boy, handed to a temporary guardian just a week after he was born in November.

She stormed out of the five-minute hearing in tears but has now said the ruling sparked her decision to get a contraceptive implant a week later.

Despite four children being diagnosed with disabilities, Ms Winters smoked throughout all her pregnancies.

One son died of rare brain condition Pheo Syndrome at 18 months old.

Ms Winters has been expecting every year of her adult life except 2004 and lives in a one-bedroom council flat with Toney in Luton, Bedfordshire. They receive benefits totalling over £1,000 a month.

Now she has pledged to take the first step to reuniting her family by trying to contact her eldest child who will turn 18 in August.

Ms Winters said: ‘I’ve decided I’m not having any more.

‘I’ve had an implant put in to stop me getting pregnant.

‘I can’t have kids for three years but I can have it taken out. It’s not worth it, having your kids taken away from you.

‘Ive been called every name under the sun and we want the end of it. I just want it all to lie and rest.’

Ms Winters slammed social services, claiming she and Toney were ‘treated like murderers’ after the birth of their fourteenth child.

She said: ‘He was a gorgeous little boy.

‘I came out and he stayed in hospital. We weren’t allowed there without a social worker being present.

‘He was given a temporary guardian – some random person we’d never met before.

‘We met her in court for five minutes and that’s the end of it, no appeal. It was a case of here we go again.

‘I was angry, I was annoyed and I was crying. Nobody helps us.

‘They’re saying we’ve got these problems and we need help but social services should pay for our counselling.’

Tragedy almost struck in December when the six-week-old baby boy contracted meningitis and the couple were allowed to visit him at Luton and Dunstable hospital.

But he pulled through and is now still living with his guardian.

Ms Winters said she would now put all her efforts into finding her eldest daughter, who she last saw in 1995 when the tot was just two years old.

She added: ‘My concentration will be on finding her. I don’t know where she is and the last photo I had of her was when she was four.

‘I won’t give up on any of them. It’s long shot but if I catch up with my kids they’ll know the truth. All of my children are going to be told the truth.’