Vincent Simone ditches pregnant air hostess Susan Duddy

Vincent Simone, 30, one of the stars of Strictly Come Dancing has ditched his pregnant fiancée Susan Duddy for ballroom co-star Kristina Rihanoff, 31.

The Mirror reports Susan Duddy, who is due in July, has been told by Vincent that after a year together, their relationship is over. He has now started a relationship with Russian Kristina Rihanoff

Susan Duddy, 36, has told friends that she is devastated and is blaming Kristina for stealing her fiancee.

Last month, Italian Vincent Simone said fatherhood wouldn’t kill off his natural desire to flirt.

Vincent said: “A leopard can’t change its spots.”

A BBC spokeswoman said: “Vincent has nothing further to add.”

         

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The Latest Baby Gadgets for 2009

TheBump.com’s Carley Roney showed Maggie Rodriguez some great hi-tech gadgets designed to make a new mother’s life easier.

There are some crazy inventions here - including a machine which tells you why your baby is crying, and an application for your iPod to keep track of how many minutes you are feeding your baby and on which side!

Also, look out for the very funky looking spoons which will make feeding a lot cleaner and easier - although the presenter does end up squirting food everywhere!

For mothers who have to carry around endless supplies of pacifiers (or dummies as us Brits prefer to call them) - you will love the pacifer sterilizer which you can pop into your handbag.

Watch CBS Videos Online

         

Dead Baby Found In Plastic Bag

Police in British Columbia, Vancouver, are appealing for information after the dead body of a baby was found wrapped up in plastic bag.

The discovery was made by a resident on Thursday morning in a residential alley between two homes.

Police Constable Jana McGuinness said “We are interviewing a couple of witnesses. This incident is only confirmed as a suspicious death at this time until the autopsy is completed.”

An autopsy was scheduled to be carried out on Friday - details of the child’s ethnicity and gender have so far not been released. Police are asking the mother or any witnesses to come forward. It is unclear whether the baby was from the area.

New mother Christina Short, who lives with her 11-week-old daughter locally told reporters “It saddened me, because I have a newborn and I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if anything happened to her.

“I don’t know what happened to this mother or these people to make them feel like they had no options.

“I just really feel for the baby. No one ever tells you they cry for 24 hours straight.”

         

Evenflo highchairs - named amongst flurry of baby product recalls in USA

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced recalls of merchandise, including cribs that can cause suffocation, high chairs with falling seats, and toys that pose a choking hazard.

Recalled products were sold around the USA at Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Burlington Coat Factory and other stores.

Scott Wolfson, a commission spokesman said; Approximatley 643,000 Evenflo Envision high chairs and 90,000 Evenflo Majestic high chairs were recalled Thursday because plastic fasteners and metal screws can fall out and allow the seat back to fall backward or detach.

320 complaints were received about Evenflo products because of suddenly reclining seat backs or completely detaching and smaller reports of screws or fasteners falling out of the Envision chair. The company has had 16 similar reports on the Majestic chair, Wolfson said.

Wolfson also said only last week, that Fisher-Price was recalling 24,000 of its 3-in-1 high chairs after the company received reports of the seat falling backward from its frame when the booster seat release was unlatched while the child was still seated.

Fisher-Price is offering a free repair kit to parents, he said. The company received one report of a child’s skull being fractured after the seat fell back.

The Evenflo high chairs were manufactured in China; the Fisher-Price chair was made in Mexico, Wolfson said.

And on Wednesday, about 4,000 What’s Inside soft toy boxes were recalled because the head of a stuffed butterfly toy can fall off, creating a choking hazard, Wolfson said.

Finally, about 1,900 SunKids convertible cribs, built in China and imported by Commerce-based Suntech Enterprises Inc., were recalled because children could suffocate in the crib, Wolfson said.

A gap can open between the side of the crib and its mattress if the bed’s mesh is not zipped into place, and a child could suffocate if wedged in the gap, Wolfson said.

The drop side of the crib also can fail to fully latch, which could result in children falling out, he said. No incidents have been reported with the crib, Wolfson said, but a 5-month-old died in August after being trapped in a similar crib. The SunKids convertible cribs were sold in California, New York and New Jersey between Jan. 2007 and Oct. 2008.

         

Bridget Moynahan Not Happy With Giselle’s Remarks About Her Son John

Giselle Bundchen’s remarks about Tom Brady and Bridget Moynahan’s son John do not sit well with the actress.

Giselle Bundchen recently married NFL quarterback Tom Brady and along with him came his 1-year-old son John. John’s mother is actress Bridget Moynahan, who Brady dated before hooking up with Giselle. The couple split right after learning that they were expecting a child together.

A few days ago Giselle made the statement about John saying, “It’s not like because somebody else delivered him, that’s not my child. I love him the same way as if he were mine. I already feel like he’s my son, from the first day.”

Apparently and with good reason, this did not sit well with John’s actual mother Bridget Moynahan. A close friend of Moynahan’s tells People that,

“Bridget has her own life, she doesn’t need to be involved in the drama of all this, and she finds it disrespectful that her son is being paraded around in front of the paparazzi when she’s specifically made it a point of keeping him away from that.” They also go on to say, “I can count on two hands, in two years, the number of times Bridget has been photographed with that baby. I can count on two hands the number of times in the past month that Gisele has been photographed with that baby.”

This friend also had some tough words for Tom Brady as well. “If Tom is such a great father as everyone likes to say, then you would think that he’d respect the privacy of his young child and would ask his wife not to use his son as a publicity prop and a subject of public discussion.”

Bridget Moynahan has not made a statement herself about what Giselle has said.

Currently Giselle and Tom are with John in Costa Rica celebrating their wedding.

         

Gavin Rossdale Is Open To Having Another Child, But Not Any Time Soon

Gavin Rossdale says that another addition to their family is not out of the question, but would like to get some sleep first.

Gavin Rossdale who is father to 2-year-old Kingston James McGregor and 7-month-old Zuma Nesta Rock, says that he is open to having another child, but that choice is mainly up with wife, Gwen Stefani. He also says that he would like to get some sleep before they have another child. He says,

“Well, [a little girl] would seem logical, but so would sleep. Sleep would be nice, and a bit of selfish time, which isn’t around the corner just yet. But, the men aren’t in control of that stuff, as you well know.”

Rossdale also goes on to say that things have gotten a little easier for the couple now that Kingston no longer has his sibling rivalry, but now is protective over his new brother.  “At first it was best not to leave them alone, but now Kingston’s just turned a corner and just a real sweetheart with him which is so sweet and just a relief because it can go the other way.”

The two boys will be joining their parents on tour this summer and traveling all around the world.

         

Ryan and Trista Sutter Welcome a Little Girl

The former Bachelorette couple welcome their second child, a little girl.

Ryan and Trista Sutter, who met on the reality show The Bachelorette, welcomed a little girl on April 3rd. Blakesley Grace Sutter was born via C-section in the couple’s home state of Colorado. She weighed in at 6lbs 2oz and was 19 inches long.

Trista tells Life and Style Magazine, that, ““She’s healthy. Everything is really good.”

Blakesley joins big brother Maxwell ‘Max’ Alston, 20 months.

A member of Trista’s family has said that the name “Blakesley is a family name going back to the 1700’s…as far as we have researched. Family names honor the past, and we are blessed to have this name carried forward.”

Trista and Ryan announced the pregnancy back in October and revealed that it was a girl in December.

         

Making a C-Section a more, “Natural” experience

A revolutionary new technique from Queen Charlotte’s Hospital in London attempts to turn C-Sections into an experience closer to vaginal birth the Times Online reports.

The idea was conceived by Professor Nicholas Fisk, in response to the rising numbers of Caesareans in the UK. 24 per cent of all births are now Caesarean deliveries. Over half are emergency C-sections rather than planned, and maternal age is a factor; according to the National Sentinel Caesarean Section Audit, mothers under the age of 20 have a C-section rate of just 13 per cent, compared with 33 per cent for mothers aged between 40 and 50.

A Caesarean is undoubtedly a major surgery. It is also a moment of great joy parents and this is what Professor Fisk, and two colleagues - Dr Felicity Plaat, consultant anaesthetist, and Jenny Smith, a senior midwife and author wish to emphasise.

Fisk says, “It struck me that all the effort was going into changing normal childbirth but that Caesarean section was still steeped in old surgical rituals,”

“In some cases I was horrified; the baby would be dragged out like a tumour and passed to several medical staff before the mother. It was ripe for reform.”

His team focused on three areas. First, parental involvement: dropping the drape that “divorced” the mother from her abdomen, to allow her to see her baby’s head emerge.

The second point was physiological: Fisk showed that when a Caesarean is performed slowly the baby is able to “autoresuscitate” - start breathing unaided - while still attached to the placenta, as in normal birth. The baby is “half-delivered” and a combination of the naturally contracting uterus and the baby’s vigorous wriggles allow the lungs to expel fluid in a similar way to a vaginal birth. This reduces the risk of the baby needing help to breathe; a common occurrence after a Caesarean.

Finally, Fisk wanted to see newborns handed immediately to their mother for skin-to-skin bonding. “There are now official standards for skin-to-skin bonding in childbirth, but these are almost never met with Caesareans,” he says. One obstruction is that the monitoring equipment needed for patients in surgery is routinely attached to the mother’s chest. “In a natural Caesarean we attach the ECG wires to the back of the chest so that the baby can be placed on the mother after birth,” Plaat says. The anaesthetic dose is lowered so that there is no “heaviness in the arms” to prevent holding the baby, and a clip that measures oxygen in the blood is attached to the toe.

Read More from the Times Online at http://timesonline.typepad.com/alphamummy/

         

Rachel Griffiths says being pregnant makes her nicer

Pregnancy for Rachel Griffiths has possibly turned her into the nicest star in Hollywood.

The cast of her TV show is practically begging her never to give birth. Husband Andrew Taylor hasn’t joined in the praise for pregnancy marital bliss, yet.

Currently starring in, “Brothers & Sisters,” the actress is expecting her third child. The baby will be a little brother or sister for Adelaide, 3 and Banjo, 5.

Rachel Griffiths says the pregnancy has changed her entire personality, “Apparently I’m really nice pregnant. The wardrobe department begged me never to have this baby. They said, ‘We love you pregnant; you’re so much nicer.’ Maybe I’m less hormonal.”

         

Perchlorate found in Baby formula - Rocket Fuel chemical

Rocket fuel chemical Perchlorate has been discovered in samples of powdered baby formula a US government study has found.

Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked for the chemical, Perchlorate, in different brands of powdered baby formula.

The chemical has turned up in drinking water supplies across several cities. Most perchlorate contamination has been tied to defense and aerospace sites, although it can occur naturally.

The chemical hasn’t been shown to cause health problems, but scientists have said significant amounts of Perchlorate can affect thyroid function. Thyroid problems can impact fetal and infant brain development.

The extent of the risk is hard to assess. The government requires that formula contain iodine, which counteracts Perchlorate’s effects. The size of the infant and how much formula they consume are other factors that can influence risk.

The study itself sheds little light on how dangerous the perchlorate in baby formula is. “This wasn’t a study of health effects,” said Dr. Joshua Schier, one of the authors.

Researchers would not disclose the brands of formula they studied and the research was limited to only a few samples, so it’s hard to know if the perchlorate levels would be found in all containers of those brands, a CDC spokesman said.

The largest amounts of the chemical were in formulas derived from cow’s milk, the study said.

         

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