Mum Star

Christina Applegate is expecting a baby with fiancé Martyn Lenoble. The actress, 38, who starred in The Sweetest Thing, had a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008.

Having told fans about her avocado cravings recently, she was able to explain why, writing: ‘Thank you all for your sweet words, now you understand my avocado situation! xoxo’

Christina and Porno For Pyros bassist Martyn, 41, got engaged on Valentine’s Day after two years of dating.

Christina has said her fiancé was her saviour during her battle against cancer.

‘I’m very grateful to Martyn for coming along at a time that he did because he’s been my rock through all of this. He gave me something to really want to live for and something to smile about,’ she told People last year.

She also told Splash: ‘I have a small but mighty support system and Martyn has really been an incredible part of my life. Without him, I don’t know if I could’ve gone through any of it. He came around at a time when there was a lot of loss in my life on many levels, so he’s been a really incredible help.’

She has since been given the all-clear and has dedicated herself to helping prevent breast cancer. In 2009, she founded Right Action for Women, a charitable foundation dedicated to breast cancer screening for women.

Scientists in America claim that autism can be identified in babies by listening to the sounds they make when they babble.

Apparently the babbling of infants with the disorder is not the same as that of children without autism.

They have developed a new automated vocal analysis technology, called LENA (Language Environment Analysis), which was shown to differentiate the pre-verbal vocalisations of very young children with autism from those of typically developing children with 86 per cent accuracy.

Professor Steven Warren, an expert in autism spectrum disorders at the University of Kansas who took part in the study, said: “This technology could help paediatricians screen children for ASD (autism spectrum disorder) to determine if a referral to a specialist for a full diagnosis is required and get those children into earlier and more effective treatments.”

Commenting on the research, Keith Lovett, director of Autism Independent UK, said it sounded “interesting” but cautioned that data can be skewed.

“Until other people can replicate it from other places around the world or other universities, I wouldn’t take the data as read.”

But if the research is right then this may be a way to detect autism in children as young as 18 months.

The study was led by D. Kimbrough Oller, a professor and chair of excellence in audiology and speech language pathology at the University of Memphis.

Previous to this research, doctors were aware of the difference in vocalization between typical children and autistic children, however, they were unable to use the information in the diagnosis due to the inability to measure it. Now with the LENA system available, it can be used clinically to help doctors screen children for autism then refer them to a specialist for a full diagnosis. A full diagnosis is required in getting children early treatment and therapy.

The LENA processor fits comfortably into the pocket of specially designed childrens’ clothing and records everything the child vocalizes. It is so precise and advanced, it can distinguish the child’s vocalizations from its cries and other noises, such as sleeping or eating noises, and between the voices of others around the child. The recordings are done in natural environments, such as the home or daycare.

Millions of women feel they can’t afford to start a family, according to research released today. More than half of women who would like to have children claim a lack of money is the main reason they have delayed becoming a mum, and nine out of ten admit they would struggle to cope financially without their wage.

Two thirds feared their career wouldn’t be the same again if they took time out to bring up a baby.
As a result, eight out of ten women are waiting until they are older before having children because they are trying to achieve as much as they can before giving it all up.

A spokeswoman for Mumpoll.com, which carried out the research, said: ‘In this modern day and age it is not unusual for the woman to be earning just as much as the man, if not more, in a normal relationship.

‘Many women who have carved out successful careers for themselves have come to rely on the benefits of two decent wages.

‘So it stands to reason that the thought of losing 50 per cent or more of the family’s earning because the women stops work, all be it temporarily, to have a child can be a put off.

The poll shows the majority don’t believe they would be financially comfortable until after the age of 30, and would want to be earning in excess of £30,000 a year before considering taking time out.

But 61 per cent say it would help if their partner had a better job, and as such brought home a more respectable salary.

Nearly half of all working women acknowledge it would be impossible for them to continue their job as effectively after having children.

The Mumpoll spokeswoman continued: ‘The harsh reality is that while mums don’t lose their talent or enthusiasm for a job after having children, their priorities shift.

‘So while women might have every intention of returning to work full time and working their way back up the career ladder, once the baby has been born they find it more difficult than they first thought.’

At the moment, 89 per cent of career women fully intend to return to work after having their first child, taking the statutory nine months off. Of these, 45 per cent envisage returning to work full time.

Girls who have survived cancer with the help of radiation treatment, who then go on to get pregnant when they are older are far more likely than average to lose their baby.

Scientists found that radiotherapy to the pelvic region during childhood increased a mother’s risk of stillbirth or infant death up to 12 times.

Exposure to high dose radiation was thought to affect blood flow and growth of the womb, leading to babies’ deaths.

The same US study, led by Professor John Boice, from the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Maryland, showed that radiotherapy for testicular cancer had no similar impact on young boys.

Their chances of successfully having children in later life were unaltered.

The researchers wrote in an online edition of The Lancet medical journal: “For men exposed to gonadal irradiation, there does not seem to be an increased risk of stillbirth or neonatal (in the first month of life) death among their offspring, which is reassuring not only for male survivors of childhood cancer but also for men exposed to ionising radiation in occupational and other settings.

“For women, however, high-dose uterine or ovarian radiation does seem to have important adverse effects, which are most likely to be attributed to uterine damage. Therefore, careful management is warranted for pregnant women treated with high doses of pelvic irradiation before they have reached puberty.”

Radiation treatment of the testicles in men and the pituitary gland in women, and the use of certain chemotherapy drugs in both sexes, were not associated with an increased risk of stillbirth or early baby death.

One in eight teenagers has been pregnant by the age of 18, according to new government figures released this week. Three per cent of the teens said they had been pregnant at least three times, 18 per cent said twice and 79 per cent said they had been expecting a baby on just a single occasion.

The highest rates were seen among those who achieved poor exam results and among those given free school meals, often taken as a marker for poorer backgrounds.

Gill Frances, of the Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group, said: ‘At a time of public spending constraints, these statistics are a reminder that it is critical to maintain investment in young people’s contraceptive and sexual health services.’

Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rates in western Europe, and yhe latest figures come from a Department of Education study of 8,500 teenagers, 83 per cent of whom said they were sexually active. More than half said they had had sex without using contraception.

Almost one in five sexually active girls said they had been pregnant at least once by the age of 18. Nearly half of them said they kept the baby but more than a third had an abortion.

Simon Blake, director of sexual health charity Brook, said: ‘We must continue doing what we know works to improve teenage pregnancy: improving access to sexual health services, good quality sex and relationships education in all schools and supporting parents to talk to their children.’

The figures emerged on the same day Ofsted inspectors reported that some children were given poor sex education lessons because their teachers found the subject embarrassing.

‘Students said that their sex and relationships education was taught too late and there was not enough of it to be useful,’ Ofsted said.

Most couples expect a few sleepless nights when they have a new baby but a new survey has found that new parents miss out on a whopping 6 months’ worth of sleep in the first two years. Silentnight beds asked over 1,000 new parents about their sleeping habits and found that 75% got less than 4 hours a night.

It’s recommended to get around 5 hours of ‘base sleep’ a night. This helps you function properly and keeps you feeling more or less normal. Any less and you can feel depressed, anxious and irritable. Many couples cited exhaustion as the reason for constant arguing and sometimes, relationship breakdown. Sleep deprivation can be a major contributing factor in cases of Post-Natal Depression.

“It is hugely important for adults to get at least the minimum recommended hours of basal sleep per night,” said Iftikhar Mirza, a sleep scientist. “Otherwise they become irritable, perform badly in the workplace and their alertness is seriously hampered,” she added.

Iftikhar recommends getting your baby into a routine as quickly as possible and keeping your immune system healthy by eating well and taking regular gentle exercise.

Easy for him to say… My little boy is 4 on Sunday and he still hasn’t slept a full night…

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow told yesterday of the struggle she faced to enjoy motherhood through the haze of severe post-natal depression.

The Hollywood actress said the period after the birth of her son Moses was ‘one of the darkest and most painfully debilitating’ times of her life.

Miss Paltrow – who is married to Coldplay singer Chris Martin – told how following the birth of the couple’s first child Apple in May 2004 she felt ‘euphoric’.

But when Moses was born only 23 months later it was very different experience.

The 37-year-old actress wrote: ‘When Moses came into the world in 2006, I expected to have another period of euphoria following his birth, much the way I had when my daughter was born two years earlier.

‘Instead I was confronted with one of the darkest and most painfully debilitating chapters of my life.

‘For about five months I had, what I can see in hindsight as post-natal depression, and since that time, I have wanted to know more about it.

‘[This is] not only from a hormonal and scientific standpoint, and why so many of us experience it, but from the perspective of other women who have gone through it.

Her comments come days after she was photographed enjoying a day on the beach with her two children close to her and Martin’s home in the Hamptons, New York.

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists one in ten women suffers from post-natal depression.

It tends to begin not immediately after childbirth but between one and six months later, and without treatment post-natal depression can last for months and, in rare cases, for years.

Often there is no obvious reason for the depression.

Symptoms can include having no appetite, feeling unable to cope, being anxious and being afraid to be alone with the baby. Sufferers can also feel that life is not worth living. It’s often those who love the person suffering from PND who notice it first; it can creep on very slowly so that the person who is depressed doesn’t always notice until they are too poorly to seek proper help. It is therefore very important that if you know someone who seems to be depressed you should encourage them to get help, and reassure them that it won’t mean that their baby will be taken from them, as many new mums fear.

At only four-months-old, Joe & Carly Cole’s baby Ruby has just landed her first modelling job.

Ruby Tatiana has become the new face of disposable nappies that are especially designed for swimming.

A clearly airbrushed Carly joined in on the campaign and posed alongside a natural-looking Ruby for Huggies Little Swimmers. The mother and daughter team are promoting Big Splash Pool Parties with the Little Swimmers, to encourage mothers to swim during and after their pregnancy.

Carly is already an active swimmer and swam throughout her pregnancy, which helped her shed her baby weight in record time.

Talking about swimming, Carly said: ‘I’ve always been a keen swimmer, since I was a baby myself, and it’s been great being able to share the experience with Ruby.

‘Whilst I was pregnant I wanted to keep exercising, so I swam two or three times per week.
And now that I’ve had Ruby, it’s still something I do….It’s helped strengthen the bond between us.’

She added that her husband Joe is a confident swimmer too and the couple are hoping that Ruby follows in their footsteps.

Swimming in early infancy is reported to aid a child’s later physical development and co-ordination.

A black couple have amazed medical experts after their baby daughter was born with white skin, blue eyes and blonde hair.

Genetic experts are at a loss to explain why Benjamin and Angela Ihegboro’s daughter, Nmachi, looks the way she does.
The baby is not an albino, leaving the explanation as some kind of genetic glitch.

The blonde, blue-eyed girl’s Nigerian parents say they don’t know of any white ancestry in either of their families.
The British couple are both of Igbo Nigerian origin and have dark skin.

Father Ben Ihegboro, 44, a customer services adviser, admitted that when he saw the baby he exclaimed ‘What the flip?’ before joking: ‘Is she mine?’

‘We both just sat there after the birth staring at her,’ said Mr Ihegboro.

Despite jokingly asking whether he was the father, Mr Igegboro said: ‘Of course she is mine. My wife is true to me. Even if she hadn’t been, the baby wouldn’t have looked like that!’

Pale skin genes can skip generations but neither Ben nor Angela Ihegboro – who only moved to Britain five years ago – know of any white heritage in either of their families.

‘She doesn’t look like an albino child anyway,’ Mr Ihegboro said.

‘Not like the ones I have seen back in Nigeria or in books. My mum is a black Nigerian although she has a bit fairer skin than mine. But we don’t know of any white ancestry. We wondered if it was a genetic twist. But even then, what is with the long curly blonde hair?’

The couple also have an older daughter, Dumebi, two, and a son, Chisom, four.

Skin colour is believed to be determined by up to seven different genes working together.

If a woman is of mixed race, her eggs will usually contain a mixture of genes coding for both black and white skin. Similarly, a man of mixed race will have a variety of different genes in his sperm.

When these eggs and sperm come together, they will create a baby of mixed race.

But, very occasionally, the egg or sperm might contain genes coding for one skin colour. If both the egg and sperm contain all white genes, the baby will be white. And if both contain just the versions necessary for black skin, the baby will be black.

Kylie Minogue returned home to Australia recently to congratulate her sister Dannii and her partner Kris Smith on the birth of their first child.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Kylie Minogue said of Ethan: “He’s so diddy and cute.”

“My sister and Kris [Smith] have taken to parenthood like a duck to water, it would seem, so all is well.”

When asked if she felt broody after meeting her new nephew, he said: “Yeah, a little. I’m putting in the aunty hours instead.”