Pregnancy

There's a new report out on teen-age sex. And, for a change, the news is encouraging. Although, not everyone will necessarily see it that way.According to this study, teens are doing a much better job of not getting pregnant. That's clearly good news.But it isn't that they're abstaining from sex. In fact -- and this may be hard to believe, especially if you think back to your own teen-age years -- more teens are having sex than ever.Try these numbers: By age 18, more than 50 percent of women and 75 percent of men have engaged in sexual intercourse.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of Patricia Witcher's subconscious hangs a calendar with the date July 15 circled in red marker. But, as future Mondays go, the next one is so much more significant. "Mondays are my 'turnaround' day," the first-time mother-to-be explains. "Each Monday marks the beginning of another week of my pregnancy." July 15 is Witcher's due date, but if that day passes without her baby's arrival, she won't be surprised. Neither will her doctor. Increasingly, obstetricians are moving away from the notion of a due date, downplaying the 24-hour time span that occurs 266 days after conception and shifting the focus to other issues surrounding pregnancy.

An article yesterday about the Supreme Court's abortion hearing described new laws under review as "bans on certain late-term abortions." Whether the laws apply only to "late-term abortions" or to others earlier in pregnancy is a central issue the court will decide. The Sun regrets the implication that the issue is already settled.

NEW YORK -- Pregnant women who stop using antidepressants might be putting themselves at great risk for another depressive episode, a new study has found. "White-knuckling it through pregnancy with recurrent depression may not be in the best interest of mom or the baby," said Dr. Lee Cohen, director of Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Women's Mental Health and lead author of the study. Researchers at the hospital tracked 201 women with a history of depression through their pregnancies to see whether those who stopped their medication had an increased risk of relapse.

Your editorial, "Rush to judgment on birth control" (March 7) completely misses the point on this issue. Rush Limbaugh's lack of judgment aside, this is not about access to contraception. The real sticking point is the Obama administration's presumption in mandating that Catholic institutions' health insurance plans must cover contraceptives, even though that runs directly counter to those institutions' core religious beliefs. Birth control pills are readily available at Walmart or Walgreen's at less than $10 per month for generic brands, so access and affordability are hardly an issue.

A Miami company has introduced a new over-the-counter kit to monitor a woman's ovulation cycle, essential to planning or avoiding pregnancy. The catch: Unlike popular kits that use urine to detect a woman's monthly hormone levels, the OvaTel (ovatel.com) is a saliva-based test. A woman uses a small, portable microscope to determine whether her saliva has higher salt levels than normal - an indication of ovulation. Fertility Tech Inc., selling the OvaTel for $21.95, says it is the first nonbattery-operated saliva-based test.

HEALTH AND social service officials in Howard County know how to put two and two together. Seeing the glaring difference between the pregnancy and birth rates of teen-age girls, they figure it means more of them are getting abortions.Howard County may be more affluent, but its suburbanite teen-agers are like teens anywhere else in America. They are subject to the same cultural influences that have made teen-age pregnancy a problem in urban settings. What is different about Howard County is that more of its teen-agers can afford abortions.

The reviews are lukewarm at best for "What to Expect When You're Expecting," a movie loosely based on the hot-selling book series by Heidi Murkoff. Charming moms-to-be, including Anna Kendrick and Cameron Diaz, deal with the emotional and physical challenges of pregnancy, while their significant others, including Chris Rock, act boorish. Here are excerpts from reviews: -- Los Angeles Times: As Murkoff knew and mined so well, there is a lot of nature-made comedy to be found in the discomforts of distended bodies, raging hormones and altered relationships.

Q. My daughter is in the seventh week of her second pregnancy. She is experiencing excessive morning sickness, vomiting four or five times a day. The doctor at a pregnancy clinic told her to take prenatal vitamins plus Unisom along with 50 milligrams of vitamin B-6 twice daily. Well, now she is sleeping throughout the day. She really doesn't want to spend the next several months in bed. Can you suggest some alternative approach? Her 2-year-old son misses his mommy. A. The combination of vitamin B-6 and Unisom (doxylamine)

Forty years ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in every state in its historic Roe v. Wade decision. It affirmed that the constitutionally protected right to privacy includes every woman's ability to make her own personal medical decisions without the interference of politicians. Four decades later, a majority of Americans still agree with the high court that personal health care decisions should be left up to a woman. In poll after poll, the majority of Americans support access to safe and legal abortion in some or most cases.