Mother's experience may produce phobias in children

Okay, this is a weird one. Scientists have found that the experiences of mothers during pregnancy may influence the behavior of their offspring. This may explain why many human babies appear to be born with a phobia of snakes and spiders, prior to any experience with them.

The newborn crickets whose mothers had been exposed to a spider were 113 percent more likely to seek shelter and stay there. They were also more likely to freeze when they encountered spider silk or feces — a behavior that could prevent them from being detected by a nearby spider. Overall, these newborns had better survival rates than other newborn crickets, eaten by the wolf spiders for the sake of science.

At the risk of freaking out pregnant mothers even more then normal, it makes me wonder just how many other behaviors are influenced by maternal experience. It should encourage fathers to do whatever they can to minimize the stress of their wives during this fragile time.

Massachusetts School Pregnancy Not a Reason to Give Out Contraceptives.

Well we now are being told that there was no pact between the girls in a Gloucester Massachusetts school which had 4 times as many pregnancies this year as last. This story is being used by those who advocate contraception to be given out in schools as a prime example of what happens if the schools don't step in to give these girls (or guys) a means to prevent pregnancy. One of the girls who is pregnant appeared on Good Morning America this morning and said

"Well, I think that they sit there and they say that they want to make a difference and it's awful that all these kids are getting pregnant, but they don't want to do anything to help them. They won't put contraceptives in the nurse's office or anything and no kid wants to go into the store and buy them, or like, ask them mom to help them get birth control. Like, it's embarrassing. So, instead of, like, making them make the decision not to use any of them, they should be giving them out in the nurse's office so you can get it anonymously,"

This quote makes it seem like this girl had that problem doesn't it? Well earlier in the article she & her boyfriend admitted that she was on birth control and still got pregnant. "Lindsey was on birth control. She was very careful with it, you know, because, obviously, we, at 17 and 20, we're not ready for a kid."

So let's not jump to the conclusion that obviously these girls would have not gotten pregnant if free/anonymous birth control was available.

Teen Pregnancy and Abortion

An article about the upswing of student pregnancies at Gloucester (Massachusetts) High School has me thinking about pop culture and the current impact on abortion. Since Roe v. Wade, pop culture has been pushing the mantra, "pregnant and don't want to be, get rid of it". With the rise in celebrity pregnancies and movies about less than ideal pregnancy situations, could the upswing be that abortion becomes less tolerated by our nation? Or are we moving towards an era where teens get pregnant and have babies because they're "fun" and college+ adults get abortions because they're "convenient".

Women Wobble But They Don't Fall Down

What do Weebles and pregnant women have in common? They may wobble, but they don't fall down. It turns out that men and women have a difference in the lower spine and hips that allows women to adjust their center of gravity so they don't fall over when the added weight of pregnancy come. Even though the article credits evolution instead of God, it's still an interesting article.