Pregnancy

The Naval Academy reportedly is considering a new pregnancy policy that both anti-abortion groups and supporters of abortion rights say would encourage abortion.Douglas Johnson, legislative director of the anti-abortion National Right to Life Committee, said yesterday the group has obtained a copy of a proposal that would allow midshipmen who get pregnant to remain at the academy only if they terminate the pregnancy within 30 days."I think it is an outrageous policy," he said. The proposal is "a pro-abortion policy that says if you get pregnant, it will be the end of your military career.

A new study billed as the most extensive analysis of pregnancy and birth outcomes among women 40 and older suggests that medical complications and interventions during delivery are more prevalent among such women than previously believed.The most significant finding, the researchers said, was that women who first gave birth in their 40s were twice as likely to have a Caesarean section as were first-time mothers in their 20s.Forty-seven percent of the first-time mothers in their 40s had a Caesarean section.

As the mother of three children, an obstetric nurse and an exercise physiologist, Yvonne Mitchell knows the importance of fitness and pregnancy.Ms. Mitchell, who has conducted Carroll County General Hospital's prenatal and postpartum exercise classes for four years, has developed classes with exercise routines to help pregnant women get in shape for delivery.The program is called "Aerobics for Moms." It is replacing the "Mama, Take Shape" prenatal-postpartum exercise program that has been offered at the hospital since 1989.

Eily Patterson is nine months pregnant and thinks life will be easier after her child is born.Not necessarily, warns her creator, Lynn Johnston, who draws the comic strip "For Better or For Worse.""The baby will be one heck of a lot like me . . . and my mother cursed me, saying, 'I hope you have a child as rotten as you are.' "The cartoon strip's main characters are John and Elly Patterson, their two kids, Michael and Elizabeth, and their dog, Farley. Elly's late pregnancy was unplanned.Her fans are reacting as emotionally as if it were a pregnancy in their own families.

Last year, it was your manhood. This year, it's your allowance.Maryland's prevention program for teen-age pregnancy is now trying to convince boys that the cost of having children far exceeds their spending money.The new state media campaign builds on last year's series of advertisements that tried to make youths rethink the connection between manhood and sexual activity."You Play. You Pay," is the new slogan for the campaign, which also asks young men: "A baby costs $474 a month. How much do you have in your pocket?"

A debate is raging as to whether there is sinister intent in proposed Baltimore City legislation requiring crisis pregnancy centers to be clear on the services they provide prospective clients. As physicians and public health professionals who live and work in Baltimore, we are surprised by the debate and troubled that there are those who would advocate for less than full transparency. In 1979, the United Nations adopted a resolution that recognizes the right of all women to "specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families, including information and advice on family planning," as well as "access to adequate health care facilities, including information, counseling and services on family planning."

Homicide has emerged as the leading cause of death among Maryland women during pregnancy or in the months that follow - outstripping heart problems, bleeding and other medical causes, state health officials said yesterday. Drawing from a wider array of statistical sources than previously used, researchers found that homicide accounted for 50 of 247 deaths between 1993 and 1998. Homicides surpassed cardiovascular problems and blood clots, known as embolisms, traditionally regarded as leading risk factors of pregnancy.

Howard County will be targeted this week in a special effort to get parents to talk with their children about sexuality and prevention ofteen pregnancy.The Governor's Council on Adolescent Pregnancy isasking parents and children to set aside time Thursday night to discuss sexual issues. In other parts of the state, the council is encouraging workshops and seminars this month to promote family communication.The council focused on Howard County because of "a major concern with sex education and parents feeling disempowered" and because of the county's high teen abortion rate, said Erlene B. Wilson, public affairs officer.

I discovered I was pregnant with my second child on Thanksgiving Day 1994. From the start, it was a license to eat.I felt sick only when my stomach was empty, and there was hardly any risk of that. At a neighbor's holiday open house, I camped near the crab dip. The hostess wrapped a gingerbread man for me to take home to my 3-year-old daughter. He was out of my coat pocket and decapitated before I was off her front porch.But even as the pounds came on fast and furious, I knew I'd have to find a way to take off the weight after the baby was born.