Tag Archive | "pregnancy"

Forced-Abortion Suspect Pleads Guilty


A man from Ohio, who is said to have forced his girlfriend to abort her pregnancy thru gunpoint to the head, pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder on Thursday.

Dominic Holt-Reid, a 28-year-old college student, was charged five months ago with attempted unlawful termination of his girlfriend’s pregnancy. The charges were supported by the 1996 state fetal homicide law and are considered murder in Ohio.

Prosecution alleged that Holt-Reid’s old girlfriend Yolanda Burgess, 26-year-old, agreed to terminate her pregnancy during the first trimester. Burgess is also the mother of one of his six children.

However, on the day of the scheduled abortion, Burgess changed her mind and this did not appeal to Holt-Reid, who earlier was convicted due to illegal possession of illicit drugs but is currently on parole. He purportedly pulled a gun on Burgess’ head and forced her to get on with the abortion.

The couple purportedly drove to the abortion clinic together with Holt-Reid’s gun hidden in a band on his waist. Burgess, however, found a way to alert the clinic employees and immediately called the police leading to Holt-Reid’s arrest.

Since that incident on October, Yolanda Burgess already gave birth to their child.

Abortion can legally be conducted in Ohio. However, it should be willfully done by the mother. Otherwise, it is considered a murder.

Holt-Reid pleaded guilty Thursday on all the charges including murder, abduction, and weapons charges. Ron O’Brien, County Prosecutor, said that the man faces fines amounting to $35,000 and 20 years in jail.

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Certain Child Hearing Loss Associated to Virus during Pregnancy


Some hearing loss in children may be caused by a virus that mothers contract while they are still pregnant, a new study stated.

In children that have a certain degree of hearing loss, 9 percent of them had acquired cytomegalovirus or CMV during birth. This report is stated in a new study in the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Cytomegalovirus is a common virus that causes harmless infection. However, people with weak immune system can get sick from it. Infections can be prevented if one does proper hand washing, especially if dealing with sick people, as well as toddlers who oftentimes carry the disease.

Mothers who had contracted the disease before pregnancy have relatively small risks to pass it on their children. However, mothers who have acquired the disease during pregnancy have higher chances according to the study; but, it is still quite improbable that their children will get the CMV-related hearing problem.

An average of 1,000 children experiences some severe kind of hearing loss. This means they can not hear usual conversations. This is according to the American Speech Language Hearing Association. In fact, they said that half of the cases are often hereditary.

Nearly 25% of women acquire CMV when they are pregnant, during the time it is very dangerous for the baby. CMV is also associated with some developmental issues in children such as mental retardation, as well as cerebral palsy. But, hearing loss is the most common problem.

The study examined 354 children who were tested for CMV at birth. The kids were around 4 years and older. All of them had hearing loss, but 34 of them had experienced CMV through their mothers.

Researchers do not know the reason why exposure to CMV in utero can cause hearing problems in children later, but the virus might be doing some kind of damage, said Karen Flower, who studies childhood infections at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

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Victoria Beckham Pregnant on her Fourth Child with David Beckham


David and Victoria Beckham are delighted to confirm that they are expecting their fourth baby together this summer, their spokeswoman Jo Milloy said in a statement on Saturday.

David, a soccer star and her wife, Victoria, a fashion designer, already have three sons, Brooklyn, 11, Romeo, 8, and Cruz, 5. All three of them are very excited to see their new brother or sister, Milloy said.

David and Victoria met in the 1990s when Victoria was still part of the hugely popular Spice Girls band as Posh Spice. Back then, the glamour couple were called ‘Posh and Becks’ and they got married July 1999, few months after their first child was born.

It was never made a secret that David, now 35 years-old and Victoria, 36 years-old, would like to have more children. Currently with three sons, the two said they were eager to have a baby girl.

David said last year that he really wants more kids and hopes that it happens soon. He wants a little girl and that would be amazing.

On the other hand, Victoria previously said that she would love to have a little girl if she would be blessed to have another child. She even said that she would love to dress up a little girl because she is really girly.

Apart from that, Milloy informed that there were no further details released regarding Victoria’s pregnancy.

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Increased Peanut Consumption during Pregnancy May Later Develop to Allergy on Children


A study found that those children whose mothers consumed a lot of peanuts during pregnancy may be at greater risk to develop an allergy to the nuts. In addition, the more peanuts the mothers consumed, the greater the chances are for the children to develop it.

However, it still isn’t apparent if the mother’s consumption of peanuts can actually lead to the grave and potentially fatal allergy that seems to be on the rise, which is currently affecting about 1 percent of children.

The study was initiated by Scott Sicherer of Mount Sinai School of Medicine located at New York City, as well as a team of colleagues from five places across United States.

They studied 500 infants who likely had egg or milk allergy. However, these infants, aged between 3 and 15 months old, have no known peanut allergy, and most have not yet tried eating peanuts.

Researchers found that more than a quarter showed strong reaction in a “sensitivity test” with peanuts, and children of mothers who had eaten peanuts during pregnancy have about three times chance to show signs of the allergy.

However, the study reveals that consuming peanuts while the mother is breastfeeding did not appear to cause a significant effect on children.

Sicherer and his team explain that the children only underwent blood tests for peanut sensitivity. The test is not the same as those actually done to diagnose an allergy. The team is still continuing the study by following the children to identify what allergies may come and go.

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