U.S. govt panel finds too many women denied chance to avoid repeat C-section
WASHINGTON – Too many pregnant women who want to avoid a repeat cesarean delivery are being denied the chance, concludes a U.S. 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.”
Fifteen years ago, nearly three in 10 women who [...]
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Jump in obesity, C-sections may be playing role in childbirth-related deaths
WASHINGTON – 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.
Pregnancy-related deaths like Coale’s appear to have risen across the U.S. [...]
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Canadian hospitals inspired by Toyota unfazed by recent troubles
MONTREAL – Toyota may be rapidly becoming a byword for corporate misadventure, but Canadian hospitals are not yet ready to slam the brakes on health-care initiatives inspired by the Japanese carmaker.
A handful of hospitals across the country have in recent years modelled new management practices after the fabled workplace culture fashioned by Toyota’s founder, Sakichi [...]
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Could germs be making you fat?
WASHINGTON (Reuters Life!) – Germs that make their home in the gut may help cause obesity and a range of health-threatening symptoms that go along with it, researchers reported Thursday.
It could be that certain bacteria cause inflammation that can affect appetite as well as inflammatory bowel conditions like Crohn’s disease and colitis, the researchers reported [...]
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New research suggests obesity risks stacked against minority kids in U.S.
CHICAGO – The odds of obesity appear stacked against black and Hispanic children in the United States starting even before birth, provocative new research suggests.
The findings help explain disproportionately high obesity rates in minority children. Family income is often a factor, but so are cultural customs and beliefs, the study authors said.
They examined more than [...]
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Despite health risks, some people continue to buy and sell breast milk online
WINNIPEG – Some women are still trying to sell their breast milk online despite concerns from Health Canada about possible disease transmission and contamination.
One new mother in Winnipeg, who recently had to retract an online ad for her milk, says it is the only way to ensure that her surplus breast milk can get to [...]
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Researchers finding few medical differences between 'test-tube' kids and other …
SAN DIEGO – More than 30 years after the world greeted its first “test-tube” baby with a mixture of awe, elation and concern, researchers say they are finding only a few medical differences between these children and kids conceived in the traditional way.
More than 3 million children have been born worldwide as a result of [...]
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Alberta brain-damaged baby case put over until March, infant stays on respirator
EDMONTON – An Alberta judge has given the parents of a brain-damaged infant more time to consult with medical experts to review whether their son should be unhooked from life support.
Rebecka May, mother of baby Isaiah May, said Friday that she and her husband should have a much better idea of their infant son’s prognosis [...]
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Winnipeg MP wants measures to protect consumers against expired food
WINNIPEG – A Manitoba politician is pushing for more measures to protect consumers after another Winnipeg store recently sold expired baby food.
NDP’s Judy Wasylycia-Leis, MP for Winnipeg North, says “the expiry date has to mean something.” Heather Benci said her family unknowingly bought baby formula that was more than six months past its expiry date [...]
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Gene tests appear to reduce levels of some inherited diseases
Some of mankind’s most devastating inherited diseases appear to be declining, and a few have nearly disappeared, because more people are using genetic testing to decide whether to have children.
Births of babies with cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs and other less familiar disorders seem to have dropped since testing came into wider use, The Associated Press found [...]

