Expert: Men who get involved with pregnancy may inevitably feel like failure

A medical expert claims that men who get involved with their partner’s pregnancy may have their confidence destroyed and injure their potential relationship with the child in the future.

Dr. Jonathan Ives, of the Centre for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Birmingham, is fighting against what he calls the “false, modern rhetoric of equal involvement that has sprung up around parenting.”

Dr. Ives and partner Dr. Heather Draper have been working on a two-year research study titled “The Moral Habitus of Fatherhood” and plan on expressing their views at a pregnancy conference in June. According to the pair’s research, men risk injuring their own opinion of themselves by trying too hard to become involved with their partner’s pregnancy.

“There is a modern, moral ideology of fatherhood that says if you’re not intimately involved in every aspect of your baby’s development, you’re failing,” Ives told the Guardian. He claims that men often try to get involved in an intimate, proactive way only to discover that their role is a very passive one during pregnancy. Often this leads to emotional detachment, he said.

“Having begun the fathering role already feeling a failure may destroy his confidence,” said Ives.

“It can then be very difficult for him to regain faith in himself once the baby is born and move from that passive state to being a proactive father. His role in the family is no longer clear to him. He effectively becomes deskilled as a parent and this can lead to problems bonding with the child.”

Ives’ comments follow a recently reported study that found that fathers are also susceptible to postpartum depression. That study found that over 10 percent of fathers became depressed during the prenatal and early postnatal period, with the number jumping to over 25 percent between three and six months after birth.

Dr. Draper suggested that there were other, more positive ways for fathers to get involved with their partners and children. “There are many different preparations for fatherhood and attending antenatal classes and being present at the birth are not the only, or even necessarily the best, methods,” she said. “Society must be realistic about what men can actually contribute”.

         

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to Baby Chums RSS feed.
Thanks for dropping by and enjoy!

---

Scotland renews efforts to curtail smoking in pregnant women

Health officials in Scotland are renewing their efforts to reduce the rate of smoking in pregnant women, warning of the risk to them and their babies.

Doctors, agencies and government officials in Scotland are working together to get the word out: if you smoke while pregnant, you’re risking more than your own life.

Following on the heels of research by Glasgow and Stirling universities for the NHS that only three out every 100 women quit smoking while pregnant, the British Medical Association and Action on Smoking and Health are working with doctors to promote the United Nation’s World No Tobacco Day.

“Around one in five women smoke during pregnancy and, although this is an improvement on previous years, it reflects the lack of knowledge among Scots about the health risks of smoking, not only to themselves, but to the health of their children,” BMA Scotland’s deputy chairman Dr. Sally Winning told The Herald.

AHS Scotland’s chief executive, Sheila Duffy, explained the No Tobacco Day: “The theme of this year’s World No Tobacco Day is gender and tobacco with an emphasis on marketing to women. The World Health Organisation has produced some excellent posters showing the dangers of smoking and the illnesses it can cause and are calling on countries to ban all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.”

“Research shows that the tobacco industry is using the cigarette packet more aggressively and more effectively as a marketing tool to recruit smokers as other promotional avenues are closed,” Duffy added.

The BMA and AHS campaigns follow the revelation that Scots are increasingly looking for help with giving up smoking. The NHS estimated that almost 70,000 people tried to quit smoking in Scotland in 2009, an increase of 35 percent over 2008.

“We need to offer more smoking cessation support to adults and parents to help those who wish to stop smoking stay stopped,” Winning told the BBC.

         

Alicia Silverstone Pregnant with First Child?

The Clueless actress appeared to be sporting a baby bump as she was photographed at the airport this weekend.

Alicia Silverstone wore a loose tunic top with jeans but there was still an undeniable baby bump under her shirt. The actress has been married to Christopher Jarecki for almost 5 years.

Just a few months ago the actress revealed that she would love to have children. She said, “I’ve been wanting to have a baby since I was 2 years old – I’m destined to be a mother. I can’t wait to be pregnant.”

There has been no official statement from Silverstone on the pregnancy.

         

Actress Emilia Fox Expecting First Child

A rep for actress Emilia Fox confirmed that Fox and her boyfriend Jeremy Gilley are expecting their first child.

A rep for The Pianist star announced, “We can confirm that Emillia is pregnant.”

Fox has spoken out in the past about the miscarriage she suffered when she was married to her ex-husband Jared Harris. She said, “I had a miscarriage two years ago and we didn’t explore enough the impact that had on both of us and on our relationship… We weren’t happy, and I couldn’t see my way through the unhappiness to get to the happiness again. Maybe it was because of having had the miscarriage, which really hit me a year later.”

This will be the first child for Emilia. No word on a due date or the sex of the baby.

         

Celine Dion Pregnant with Twins

The sixth round of in vitro fertilization was a success for Celine Dion as the she and her husband announce they are expecting twins.

PEOPLE is reporting that Dion is pregnant with twins after her sixth round of in vitro fertilization as well as turning to acupuncture to help her get pregnant. Dion is said to be 14 weeks pregnant which puts her out of the first trimester already.

We’re ecstatic,” her husband/manager René Angelil gushes. “Celine is just hoping for a healthy pregnancy. She was hoping for one baby and the news that we are having two is a double blessing.”

The couple are already parents to René-Charles, 9.

Last year it was announced that Celine was pregnant after IVF but she suffered a miscarriage not long after the announcement. She has made it public that she would continue to try in vitro fertilization and was hopefully she would carry a baby to term.

         

Melanie Brown Dishes on Her Daughters’ Hair and How She Balances Motherhood

Former Spice Girl Melanie Brown talks about her daughters and motherhood in an interview with New! Magazine.

The singer has gotten some slack lately for the hairstyles of her two daughters Phoenix, 11, and Angel, 3. When it comes to the girls’ mohawk haircuts, she says, “They are cute! My kids let me know exactly what they do and don’t want; it wasn’t me who made them get their hair cut. They wouldn’t [have] allow[ed] me to get their hair done if they didn’t approve.”

So, why did Mel decide to cut off her hair as well? “All my kids were getting Mohawks. My 11-year-old did this Rihanna thing, my three-year-old got the mohawk and I was like, I want to join in! Afterwards my 11 year old did go, “Why did you do that mom?”

When it comes to balancing motherhood, Mel says, ” [Angel Iris] goes to school three hours a day when I run around and do my thing and I pick jobs that work around my family. Hosting this show is two days a week so I have time to see my kids.”

Brown, who is married to Stephen Belafonte, reveals that she would love to have more children. “Oh no I love babies,” she gushes. ”I definitely want to have more. I am going to be 35 this year so I have a few more years left of baby making, yeah definitely.”

She also adds, “I’ve always wanted to have kids. My mom is one of seven so from growing up I always knew that I wanted to have a big family. I just wanted to make sure that I could provide for them. I went and did a little bit of work first.”

         

Katherine Heigl Opens Up About Her Daughter’s Adoption and Maternal Instincts

Actress Katherine Heigl got emotional on her appearance on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as she opened up about the adoption of her “special needs” daughter.

The former Grey’s Anatomy star and her husband, singer, Josh Kelly, adopted a little girl from Korea last September and ever since then Katherine has been reveling in maternal emotions.

Katherine said on the talk show, “Naleigh has been beautifully perfect since the moment we got her, she sleeps all night, she takes three hour naps, she is super independent and plays fantastic by herself for hours and just two days ago she started really working us over. She’s not sleeping, not playing by herself and wants constant attention.”

When it comes to her maternal instincts, she reveals, “It was like a slow dawning this feeling. Initially with her, I obviously loved her and I was very protective of her. I felt like it was my duty, my job to keep this child safe and happy and sheltered. But that duty starts to turn into this feeling that is overpowering and overwhelming.”

She adds, “I don’t know how to explain it, it’s so strange but any time I see a film or television show that has to deal with anything tragic or hard or difficult between a mother and a child, it just my whole reaction is always… I used to just watch it and feel empathy but now the crying begins and I try to not cry because Josh mercilessly makes fun of me.”

Katherine and Josh married in 2007. Naleigh is their only child.

         

South Korean Internet addicts convicted of abandoning, starving baby

A South Korean couple was convicted today of abandoning their baby to die while they let their Internet addiction take over their life.

Prosecutors at South Korea’s Suwon District Court ended up with a two-year sentence for father Kim Jae-beom, 41, and a suspended sentence for mother Kim Yun-jeong, 25, who is expecting another baby this August.

The unmarried couple found their malnourished newborn daughter dead last September after returning home from an all-night Internet gaming session. Their three-month-old daughter, who was born prematurely at 6.4 pounds, was found to weigh only 5.5 pounds at the time of her death.

“This constitutes an inhumane crime where the defendants abandoned even the most basic responsibilities as parents, and is unforgivable beyond any excuse or reason,” said Suwon District Court officials in their ruling.

The prosecution stated in an affidavit that the couple was prone to frequently participating in long-term gaming sessions at Internet cafes, while only feeding the baby once a day.

“The defendants’ prematurely born daughter needed constant care, but they did not feed the baby and even beat her, while indulging in online games,” the ruling further stated.

While the original trial was held in March, the defense worked to have the sentencing delayed while a psychological review was made on the mother. Ultimately her sentence was suspended due to her current pregnancy, and she’s able to stay out of jail as long as she complies with a court-ordered plan.

The case has acted as a spotlight on South Korea’s Internet addiction problems. The country features some of the most highly-wired broadband services, with an estimated 21,500 high-speed Internet cafes spread around the nation of 49 million people.

Last October, officials cracked down Internet addiction, putting into place regulations on three of the country’s biggest game operators that require a “shutdown” system that would encourage users to log off after a certain period of time.

         

Number of live births to women over 40 nearly triples

New statistics out of England and Wales shows that in the last 20 years, live births to women over 40 have nearly tripled.

The Office for National Statistics has released figures comparing fertility rates in 2008 and 2009, showing a decrease in women under 35 but an increase in for over 40s.

Of particular interest were the numbers indicating that women aged 40 and over have nearly tripled the number of live births they’ve had over the last 20 years. In 2009, 26,976 babies were born to over 40s, compared to 14,252 in 1999 and 9,336 in 1989.

It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what’s causing the baby boom in women over 40, but many point to career, maturity and financial stability as mitigating factors. But that’s not all of them. BabyChums reported in February that the sexual health charity Family Planning Association was spreading the word that age isn’t contraception. The FPA pointed to abortion numbers for women over 40, suggesting a link between older women having abortions and misconceptions about their fertility.

“The message is that if you’re over 35, although your fertility is declining, it hasn’t disappeared completely,” said the FPA’s website in February.

In an opinion column found on the Mirror website yesterday, Dr. Miriam Stoppard said that NHS should prepare for further increases in the over-40 birth rate.

“I feel strongly that the NHS should automatically provide extra care for older mums, involving extra antenatal clinics and closer monitoring of older mums-to-be,” said Dr. Stoppard. “The challenge is that for this to happen we’d need more midwives, of which there’s already a shortage, and more maternity units, which tend to be closing rather than opening.”

Louise Silverton, deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, agreed that midwives will continue to be in demand. Silverton told the BBC: “The [overall] birth rate has gone up by 19 percent since 2001 yet the number of midwives has risen by only 11 percent over the same period. The figures also mask the fact that an increasing number of births are becoming more complicated, requiring more of midwives’ time.”

Despite the ONS reporting a 0.3 percent decrease in the number of live births between 2008 and 2009, Silverton says that the NHS shouldn’t be deceived. “This very small decrease in the birth rate should not be used as an excuse to stop or reduce the promised rise in the number of midwives.”

         

Singer Alicia Keys Confirms Pregnancy Rumors

Alicia Keys has been the subject of pregnancy rumors for a few weeks now and now the singer has come out and confirmed that she is indeed pregnant and engaged.

A rep for Alicia Keys and her now fiance Swizz Beatz told PEOPLE, that the couple, “are expecting a baby and are engaged to be married in a private ceremony later this year.”

The announcment came after the couple, who have reportedly been dating since late 2008, attended the Black Ball in London, which benefits Key’s charity Keep a Child Alive.

Swizz Beatz, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, has produced a few of Alicia songs and has also worked with Beyonce and Jennifer Lopez.

There is some controversy over Alicia and Swizz as there is speculation that the couple started dating while Swizz was still with his ex-wife. His divorce to his ex-wife MaShonda was just finalized earlier this year.

Swizz Beatz has two sons from previous relationships but this will be the first child for Alicia.

         

Next Page »