Pregnant

THE COUNT Homicides since Jan. 1: 239 THE VICTIM A man was killed Sunday about 7 p.m. in a drive-by shooting in the 2600 block of Quantico Ave. in Northwest Baltimore. A pregnant woman who was also shot was in serious condition, police said. LAST YEAR: Baltimore had recorded 218 homicides as of Oct. 15, 2006. ONLINE: Details and locations of this year's city homicides are at baltimoresun.com/homicidemap

HOLLYWOOD -- Keri Russell knows from typecasting. She's played a pregnant character in her last four films, including the romantic comedy Waitress, which opens this month. "I don't know what about me screams young pregnant mother," said Russell, 31, with amusement. Whatever it is, life has followed suit. The actress -- almost as famous for cutting her hair as for winning a Golden Globe for her breakthrough role on TV's Felicity -- is about to have her first child with husband Shane Deary, a carpenter she married three months ago. "I always knew I would have kids," said Russell from her apartment in New York.

A pregnant Eastern Shore woman who lost her baby after police officers shoved her during a drug raid cannot sue the police involved because they are immune from such claims if they act reasonably, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday. The opinion issued by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., overturns a decision by U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis in Baltimore. Garbis had ruled that the complaint filed by Sonya C. McCaskill against Salisbury officers and Wicomico County sheriff's deputies could proceed because "an officer who knows a woman is pregnant, and pushes her despite that knowledge, is likely acting with an intent to injure the woman.

Pregnant women do not tip over, and researchers say an evolutionary curve has a lot to do with the reason why. Anthropologists studying the human spine have found that women's lower vertebrae evolved in ways that reduce back pressure during pregnancy, when the mass of the abdomen grows by nearly one-third and the center of mass shifts forward considerably. That increases pressure on the spinal column, strains the muscles and generally reduces stability. Even without the benefit of advanced study in biomechanics, women tend to deal with the shift - and avoid tumbling over like a bowling pin - by leaning back.

Just days before starting a new job as a receptionist, Kimberly Sudhoff took a telephone call from a hiring manager who asked for her uniform size. Because she was four months' pregnant, Sudhoff said she wasn't sure about her size. A few days later, she said, the manager rescinded the employment offer and questioned Sudhoff's commitment to the job. Sudhoff said she was encouraged to reapply after having the baby. "It's really terrible to say, but you can't help to think if I wasn't pregnant, I would have gotten the job," recalled Sudhoff, 27, who lived in Hagerstown at the time and has since moved to Mississippi.

Maryland will spend $3.5 million to expand a program that offers in-home instruction in parent skills to pregnant women and families with young children.The money for the Healthy Families Maryland initiative will serve an additional 1,000 families with a high risk of social problems, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend said yesterday. She said the funds will come, in part, from money saved by trimming out-of-state care for emotionally disturbed children in favor of in-state treatment.The program serves 440 families in Baltimore and in Montgomery, Prince George's, Frederick, Howard and Garrett counties.

An Anne Arundel County official joined advocates for children in urging the General Assembly yesterday to ban marriage under the age of 16, calling the current statute permitting such unions "a shotgun law for pregnant adolescents."Robert P. Duckworth, clerk of the county Circuit Court, noted the well-publicized marriage of a pregnant 13-year-old girl and the baby's 29-year-old father last August in Annapolis. The case of Tina Lynn Akers and Phillip Wayne Compton Jr. received international attention, bringing calls for legislation to ban such marriages.

Police identified the two people killed in a motorcycle-pedestrian accident Thursday night as Jenise Harris, 19, and Charles Magnum Jr., 32, both of Baltimore.Harris, who was five months pregnant, lived in the 1600 block of N. Washington St. in East Baltimore. Magnum, whose motorcycle struck her while he was racing with another motorcyclist, lived in the 2000 block of Sinclair Lane in Northeast Baltimore, police said.Investigators recovered both motorcycles near the scene but have not found the other racer, said police spokesman Scott Rowe.

BOSTON -- Sooner or later it always comes down to earrings.At some point in the debate, a legislator, politician or moralist who has never previously shown the slightest interest in the public policy on body piercing will utter the same rhetorical battle cry: "If a teen-ager can't get her ears pierced without parental consent, why should she be able to get an abortion?"Frankly, the analogy still escapes me. We are, after all, talking about the realities of reproduction, not jewelry.Teen-agers can have sex (alas)

Maryland General Assembly leaders agreed yesterday to create a $76 million program to provide government-financed health insurance to 60,000 children and pregnant women from working poor families.The compromise proposal, worked out by House and Senate negotiators, is expected to win final General Assembly approval today or tomorrow."It's a great piece of legislation, and I'm confident it will pass overwhelmingly in both houses," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller."This is something the entire legislature and the governor can be very proud of," said House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr.The program was a centerpiece of the legislative agenda of Gov. Parris N. Glendening, who said through a spokesman yesterday that he was pleased with the final bill and would sign it into law."

Initial results of autopsies on a former Anne Arundel County woman and the fetus removed from her womb leave unanswered how the woman was killed and whether the baby lived after he was taken from her body, Oregon officials said yesterday. The body of Heather M. Snively, 21, who had recently moved west from Edgewater, was discovered Friday after authorities were called to the suburban Portland home of Korena Roberts, 27. Authorities said Roberts claimed that she had just given birth to a baby who was not breathing.

A 2002 rape case involving a pregnant Pikesville woman has been resolved with the sentencing this week of a construction worker, but his victim is no longer alive to receive the news. After pleading guilty to first-degree rape, Michael Wrightson, 27, was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison by Baltimore County Circuit Judge Dana M. Levitz, who suspended all but 40 years. The victim was seven months' pregnant at the time of the rape in May 2002 and had five children at home. The baby survived the attack, and the woman later had a seventh child.

Helping mothers helps bottom line Thanks to The Baltimore Sun for continuing to put a spotlight on Maryland's poor birth outcomes and on the need to intervene early to improve these outcomes, even before a woman becomes pregnant ("Help for young mothers," editorial, Dec. 22). The editorial mentions the recent expansion of health insurance to cover more parents. And it is very important to get as many of women enrolled in Medicaid as possible and then provide extra services to women at risk of difficult pregnancies.

Very few drugs are approved for use during pregnancy. Yet millions of pregnant women each year take prescribed medication to treat high blood pressure or depression or cancer, without meaningful data on whether the drugs are safe for them or their fetuses. Many researchers have long considered including pregnant women in their studies taboo. But a push is on to learn more, amid fears that leaving serious health problems untreated could be more dangerous for pregnant women and their babies than taking an unstudied medication.

A woman who was shot in the head in her Crofton home Monday afternoon was pregnant, an acquaintance said yesterday. The victim, whom friends and neighbors identified as Jodi Torok, 26, was in critical condition yesterday afternoon, a spokeswoman for Maryland Shock Trauma Center said. "She is a quiet girl, happy all the time," said A.J. O'Dell, who said he is the boyfriend of Torok's roommate. "She's the type of person who would have no enemies whatsoever." Torok is about three months pregnant, O'Dell said.

'Easy Rider' actor-director Dennis Hopper honored with top French prize Dennis Hopper has been named a commander in the French Legion of Honor. The 72-year-old actor was visibly moved as he received France's most prestigious prize at a ceremony in Paris yesterday. The Cinematique Francaise in Paris is opening an exhibit on Hopper this week that will run through Jan. 19. Hopper's screen credits include Apocalypse Now, Blue Velvet and 1969's Easy Rider, which he also directed. Real bell ringers The Jonas Brothers will perform during halftime of the Dallas Cowboys' nationally televised Thanksgiving Day game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Nonprofits protect prosperity, values Thank you for putting "Nonprofits add jobs" (July 1) on the front page of The Sun's business section. As the report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies and the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations notes, nonprofit agencies strengthen Maryland's work force and increase productivity in ways that benefit our overall economy. But nonprofit groups - from understaffed anti-poverty agencies to big employers in health care and higher education - also contribute to the quality of life in important ways that the market economy cannot support.

Do you know what happens to teen girls who become pregnant? They suddenly become the center of the universe, and everyone cares about them like never before. What a great way to instantly be popular and even loved: Get pregnant. That's one of the core messages in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a new drama premiering tonight on the ABC Family channel. If you are looking for fictional precedents, think Juno, the critically acclaimed film about a 16-year-old offbeat teen, Juno MacGuff, and her pregnancy.

As many women postpone having a baby until later in their lives, some will face infertility. But infertility is treatable through a variety of therapies, says Howard A. Zacur, director of Johns Hopkins Medicine's Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. How many women are affected by fertility problems? Roughly 10 percent of women in the United States who are trying to become pregnant are affected, and this percentage has been relatively stable over time. Medically speaking, how is infertility defined?

Too much caffeine during pregnancy could increase the risk of miscarriage, a new study says, and the authors suggest that pregnant women might want to reduce their intake or cut it entirely. Many obstetricians advise women to limit caffeine, though the subject has long been contentious, with conflicting studies, fuzzy data and various recommendations given over the years. The new study, being published today in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, finds that pregnant women who consume 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day - the amount in 10 ounces of coffee or 25 ounces of tea - may double their risk of miscarriage.