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Scotland’s chief medical officer has said children aged six months to five years should be taking daily vitamin D drops. Sir Harry Burns has also warned that pregnant women should be taking the vitamin to protect against bone disease and other illnesses. He has written to health professionals about the risk of vitamin D deficiency. [...]

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A campaign warning of the risks nappy sacks pose to babies is to be adopted by the NHS nationally. It follows the deaths of two babies in Cornwall and the concerns raised by coroner Dr Emma Carlyon. Eleven babies in the UK are believed to have died in the past 10 years from suffocation after [...]

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Parents were today warned of the deadly dangers of nappy sacks, after it emerged eleven babies have suffocated after pulling the bags over their faces. Doctors said infants have an automatic reflex to grab things within reach and bring them to their mouths. Nappy bags are made from thin plastic that can cling to a [...]

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Suddenly, babies are back, with a sharp rise in the birth rate. Michael Blastland tells the extraordinary statistical story of the original 20th Century baby boomers. You were born into the most dramatic population change in UK history. At every age throughout your life, you stood out for sheer numbers. But you were not born [...]

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Doctors are calling for newborn babies to be given vitamin D, to protect them from bone disease and other illnesses. The chief medical officer for England wrote to doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, advising them to consider vitamin D supplementation for certain at risk groups- including pregnant mothers. via BBC News – Doctors recommend [...]

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Women who eat fish during pregnancy are more likely to have brainy and sociable children, according to new EU-funded research. Those mothers-to-be who tucked into oily fish like tuna, sardines and salmon produced infants who scored better in various tests of skill and intelligence, it found. As part of a £5 million European Commission study [...]

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She was rarely been seen out and about during her family’s time in LA. But Mel B’s beautiful daughter Madison certainly made an impression as she left US shores yesterday. The 5-month-old looked angelic in a Harper Beckham-style headband as she, her mother and father Stephen Belafonte made their way through LAX, beginning their journey [...]

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The risk of heart damage in unborn babies is doubled if the mother-to-be is an overweight smoker, scientists are warning. A study found women with both risk factors were more than twice as likely to give birth to a child with congenital heart disease – a general term to describe a range of birth defects [...]

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Babies are being brought into classrooms to cut bullying and teach children empathy. Primary schools in Lewisham and Croydon will be the first in England to use infants to educate children as young as four about emotional literacy. Babies have been brought into lessons before to highlight the realities of teenage parenthood, but this is [...]

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Amanda Holden was today discharged from hospital after her life-threatening childbirth ordeal. The Britain’s Got Talent judge was said to be “thrilled” to be back at her house in south-west London with new daughter Hollie. Holden, 40, was in intensive care for several days following the birth eight days ago. She is believed to have [...]

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Johnson & Johnson has recalled thousands of tubes of its Aveeno Baby Calming Comfort Lotion after a sample contained too much bacteria. Tests by the Food and Drug Administration found a batch of the lotion contained more of a form of naturally-occurring bacteria than specifications allow. Around 2,200 bottles of the lotion – with lot [...]

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If giving birth to a 13 pound baby isn’t enough to earn a title of Wonder Woman after labor, how about doing it au naturale? An Iowa woman delivered her second son to weigh over 11 pounds Thursday after opting to forgo a cesarean section as well as pain killers. At precisely 13 pounds and [...]

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Pseudomonas bacteria like those which killed four babies have been found in a third Northern Irish hospital. It was detected in water outlets in the neo-natal intensive care unit of the Ulster Hospital near Belfast. None of the babies in the unit has tested positive for the infection but screening is ongoing. Separate outbreaks of [...]

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The parents of a newborn baby left with horrific injuries and fractures all over her body walked free from court today, despite admitting child cruelty charges. The unnamed infant was just 23 days old when doctors discovered she had suffered multiple breaks to her legs, knees, ribs, right wrist and right hip. MRI scans showed [...]

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Parents are being wrongly accused of abuse because of an undiagnosed  epidemic of rickets among very young children, scientists claim. Cases of the illness, which is caused by a lack of vitamin D, have soared in the past decade due to poor diet and lifestyle habits. In very young children, the condition leads to their [...]

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Holden, 40, gave birth to her second child, Hollie Rose, on Monday after going into labour a month early and spent three days in a critical condition. The actress and television presenter is now stable after being treated in an intensive care unit for three days but is expected to take a while to recover [...]

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Signs of autism can be detected in six-month-old babies by measuring their brain activity, research has shown. Scientists say the test could help identify infants most at risk of developing the disorder later in life. Autism, a lifelong developmental disability that impairs a person’s ability to connect socially and communicate, is not officially diagnosed until [...]

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Seb Coe today said it was “an anomaly” that expectant parents were being told their babies will be refused entry to the Olympic Games unless they have a ticket. The London 2012 chairman stressed that cut-price tickets for children had been sold and added that “we want to be a family friendly organisation”. He told [...]

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Two senior paediatric pathologists say they have discovered vitamin D deficiency in a significant number of children who have died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The doctors say that vitamin D deficiency and associated diseases such as the bone disease rickets could potentially explain deaths and injuries that are often thought to be suspicious. And [...]

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Scarlett Anne Mary Brooks was born at 4.05pm on Wednesday at the Portland Hospital, central London, weighing six lb 1oz. Mrs Brooks and her husband, Charlie Brooks, a racehorse trainer, were said to be “overjoyed” at the safe arrival of their first child, in a surrogate birth. The surrogate mother, who has declined to be [...]

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A mother is suing the obstetrician who she claims misdiagnosed her pregnancy as ectopic and injected her foetus with an abortant, resulting in birth defects. Thirty-five-year-old Rachel Schoger of Caldwell, Idaho, says she was four weeks five days pregnant with her daughter, Seraphine, when her doctor injected her foetus with chemotherapy drug methotrexate in 2006. [...]

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A killer infection that claimed the lives of three babies in a Belfast hospital has been traced to taps in the neo-natal unit, Northern Ireland’s health minister said. All the taps and connected pipe work in the room at the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital are to be removed as experts try to eradicate all traces [...]

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Sink taps were the source of an infection which killed three babies at a Belfast hospital, the Northern Ireland health minister has confirmed. Edwin Poots told the NI Assembly that the Pseudomonas bacteria had been traced to taps at a neo-natal unit in the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital. The unit was deep cleaned at the [...]

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London 2012 organisers are facing a backlash from prospective parents who have learned they will need tickets for their newborn babies – even if they were not conceived when the highly prized seats were bought. The situation, which has been described as “ridiculous” and “bloody stupid” by angry ticketholders, has arisen because most tickets went [...]

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Babies will be banned from the Olympics unless they have their own ticket – even if they were not conceived when their parents bought seats. 2012 organiser Locog has said every child, including babies carried in their parents’ arms, must have a ticket. A press spokesman said the Olympics helpline had received calls from pregnant [...]

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While it may appear that infants are helpless creatures that only blink, eat, cry and sleep, infant brains actually come equipped with knowledge of ‘intuitive physics’, according to a study. ‘We study infant knowledge of the world by measuring a child’s gaze when presented with different scenarios,’ said Kristy vanMarle, an assistant professor in the [...]

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But the fact that we find a screaming baby almost impossible to ignore could be a simple result of evolution, according to a new study. Even when surrounded by other noises and distractions, our ears automatically tune in to an infant’s wails because adults are biologically programmed to respond to a child in distress, experts [...]

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Taking brief moments to savour life helps patients make better decisions about their health, according to a new report. Researchers said consciously thinking of happy thoughts as soon as you wake up has a therapeutic effect. They even offer examples including babies in hats and beautiful sunrises. The approach was shown to be successful for [...]

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Beyonce may have opted for the unusual Blue Ivy for her new baby daughter, but when it comes to the rest of America, it seems rather more traditional baby names have been winning favour. A new poll has revealed James and Charlotte to be the most popular names for newborns in 2011. Baby name website [...]

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The dragon is the most auspicious sign in the Chinese zodiac as it is the only year represented by a mythical character, rather than an animal, as in the eleven others of the dozen-year cycle. The symbol of royalty, it is thought by superstitious ethnic Chinese to be the bringer of wealth, wisdom, courage and [...]

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Newsreader Kate Silverton has shown off the baby she thought she would never have – and said the little girl is everything she could have hoped for. The BBC presenter gave birth to first child Clemency in November after years of IVF heartbreak and fears she would be unable to give birth. And showing off [...]

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Bringing up a baby is not what it used to be. Ten fingers and ten toes, crying, hunger and diapers: check. But when it comes to modern child rearing, the path is fraught and can be a minefield of contrasting and often confusing confusing ‘correct ways’ as to sleep cycles, routines, breast feeding and child [...]

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There’s nothing new about a celebrity mother heading to the tattoo parlour to celebrate the birth of a child. From Angelina Jolie to Victoria Beckham, the indelible mark of inked artwork goes-hand-in-hand with many an A-list baby in Hollywood. But the trend is fast-spreading, and mothers across America are opting to symbolise their children’s lives [...]

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When Catherine Mok, a thoroughly modern working mother, decided to give birth during the Year of the Dragon, she knew it would be expensive. Like many ethnic Chinese around the world, Ms Mok believes the mythical dragon is the most auspicious sign in the traditional 12-year zodiac cycle. “The dragon is special,” the flawlessly groomed [...]

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This is the miracle baby who survived six months of chemotherapy in his mother’s womb after she defied doctors and refused to have a termination. Stephanie Papworth was just 12 weeks pregnant when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Doctors suggested terminating the pregnancy as they didn’t think the baby would be able to survive [...]

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The Belfast neonatal unit at the centre of a deadly infection that has killed three babies has been evacuated. The Belfast Trust, which runs the Royal Hospital, confirmed that all the babies in the unit are being moved to other locations. The decision came after it emerged on Friday evening that four more babies have [...]

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One of the world’s smallest surviving babies has been discharged from the hospital where she spent nearly five months in an incubator – but not before getting the Hollywood treatment. Wearing a pink knit hat and wrapped in a pink princess blanket, Melinda Star Guido was greeted by a mob of television cameras and news [...]

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A third baby has died in the Belfast Royal hospital’s neonatal unit, it has been confirmed. The Belfast Trust, which runs hospitals in the city, said the third death may be linked to an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterial infection which has already claimed the lives of two other babies in the same unit. [...]

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It’s difficult enough for families with two or three children to keep them in check. But for Sue and Noel Radford and their brood of 14, a family outing is a feat of logistical planning complex enough to fill most parents’ hearts with dread. The Radfords run a successful local bakery in Morecambe, Lancashire, which [...]

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It is using its investigative powers to look at emergency care at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, as a way of looking at the care patients receive throughout their whole stay. Last summer the CQC published a highly critical report of the trust’s maternity service at Furness General Hospital in Cumbria, threatening [...]

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Babies don’t learn to talk just from hearing your voice. New research suggests they’re lip-readers too. It happens around the age of six months when a baby begins shifting from the intent eye gaze of early infancy to studying mouths when people talk to them. Their babbling then gradually changes from gibberish into syllables and [...]

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The toddler whose brave fight against an excruciating skin disorder prompted a worldwide crusade to battle the illness has died. Tripp Roth, from Ponchatoula, Louisiana, outlived all medical predictions during his battle with junctional epidermolysis bullosa, which caused his skin to blister at the slightest touch. The two-year-old boy died in his mother’s arms on [...]

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This new three-part series explores the sprawling lives of some of the UK’s biggest families. In tonight’s opener we meet Sue Radford from Morecambe in Lancashire, mother to 14 children. Sue is expecting another child in just a few months, and doesn’t rule out still more after that. “It’s usually when they’re between six and [...]

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A baby’s relationship with their mother during the first 18 months of life affects their behaviour in future romances, a study has shown. The ability to trust, love and work through arguments is defined early on in childhood. A mistreated infant becomes a defensive arguer while the baby whose mother was attentive and supportive is [...]

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The 22-year-old said her father, Bob Geldof, was “overwhelmed” when she told him on Boxing Day that she was expecting a baby boy with her fiance Thomas Cohen. She told Hello! magazine: “Oh my God, he was so happy, especially as I’m having a boy. The poor man’s been surrounded by women up till now. [...]

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It’s a question some new mothers and fathers may secretly wonder about, but when asked who her favourite parent is this adorable baby showed little hesitation. The video of Australian Mick Tippett quizzing his young daughter Maddie is one that many fathers can probably relate to. During the hilarious video Mick repeatedly asks one-year-old Maddie [...]

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A little girl, who underwent life-saving surgery aged nine days old, is today celebrating her first birthday. Weighing just 3lb 5oz, Eleana Hasting, was the smallest baby in Britain to have open heart surgery. She arrived six weeks prematurely with a missing valve, a hole between two chambers of her heart and dilated pulmonary arteries. [...]

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A mother has expressed her outrage after she found out the brain of her six-week-old baby who died 13 years ago had been found in a jar at Southampton General Hospital. Julie Middleton, 40, buried her son Regan in 1998 but has now been told that doctors removed his brain during a post-mortem at the [...]

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Screaming, crying and waiting for hours to have her photo taken with celebrities, Tyler Sercombe is a typical starstruck fan. Except for one thing — she is just a year old. Her mother, Donna, has taken her to about 60 film premieres, and Tyler has already met 130 A-listers. Judging by these pictures, they were [...]

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Screaming, crying and waiting for hours to have her photo taken with celebrities, Tyler Sercombe is a typical starstruck fan. Except for one thing — she is just a year old. Her mother, Donna, has taken her to about 60 film premieres, and Tyler has already met 130 A-listers. Judging by these pictures, they were [...]

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