Mum Star

The mother of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo’s baby is a penniless American waitress who the football star seduced with the line: “Me, you, f*** f***.” Classy.

But apparently she didn’t understand the ‘chat up line’ at first, so Ronaldo resorted to drawing a love heart on a misted-up window and said: “Me, you, kiss!”

Then they had a one-night stand that resulted in the waitress falling pregnant, and in Ronaldo being left with a £10million bill.
It had been rumoured that for some reason Ronaldo had paid a woman to be a surrogate mother but apparently it wasn’t quite as planned as that.

Apparently, after hearing the baby was his, he told friends “I feel like Boris Becker” – a reference to the tennis star who fathered a love-child after having sex just once in a London restaurant – which cost him £20m.

The £200,000-a-week striker used his best friend to help broker an exclusive paternity deal in New York, supervised by his mum Dolores Aveiro, to bring the baby back to Portugal.

Ronaldo has told friends he won’t tell the boy the identity of his mother until his 18th birthday.

And the little boy’s mother has been paid a life-changing $15.1million to keep her identity confidential and to hand the child over to Ronaldo’s family.

It was agreed that Ronaldo would give DNA for a paternity test once the baby was born and provide support for the mother and child if it proved to be his.

Katherine Heigl adopted baby Naleigh last September from South Korea, and ever since then she has been trying to kick her heavy smoking habit. Her latest attempt is aided by an electronic cigarette, which she was seen puffing on between takes on the set in Pittsburgh for her new film ‘One For The Money’.

The 32-year-old actress has confessed to being a heavy smoker since she was 24, but vowed to quit after she and her husband Josh Kelly adopted Naleigh, who is now 19 months old.

The ‘e-cigarette’ is designed to still give smokers something to suck and while it still provides nicotine, it’s inhaled only as a vapour rather than smoke.

When not e-smoking between takes, Katherine was seen walking around holding a cup and dressed in black jeans, black boots and a denim jacket for her role in the film.

The movie has been trying to get off the ground since the nineties with both Sandra Bullock and Reese Witherspoon rumoured to be attached to the project at one time or another.

However, it was Katherine who eventually landed the part and the project finally began filming in Pennsylvania last week.

According to a study that appears in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, babies who are fed cows’ milk for the first 15 days may be protected from dangerous allergies later in life.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University (TAU), Israel found that newborns fed with cow’s milk are protected from developing Cows Milk Protein Allergy (CMPA).

Milk allergy occurs when the immune system reacts adversely badly to milk protein. This leads to an allergic reaction that causes the suffering tot to be fussy and irritable, along with other problems like an upset stomach.

CMPA can also cause skin rashes and respiratory issues in babies and, in extremely rare cases may result in shock and death.

The National Post quoted lead author Professor Yitzhak Katz, Tel Aviv University’s Department of Pediatrics, Sackler Faculty of Medicine as saying, “Women who regularly [daily] introduced their babies to cow’s milk protein early, before 15 days of life, almost completely eliminated the incidence of an allergy to cow’s milk protein in their babies.”

In the study that involved the longest and largest prospective of its kind, researchers looked at the feeding history of 13,019 infants.

Their analysis revealed that introducing cows’ milk formula within the first fourteen days of an infant’s life resulted in a defensive action against milk protein allergy.

It was known that babies who were given formula shortly after birth were 19 times less likely to develop an allergy to cows’ milk. Conversely, those who were given cow’s milk formula later on were found to be susceptible to CMPA.

Controversially, the research says that whilst breastfeeding the baby is imperative, exposing the baby to formula early in life is also essential.

They further stated that mothers who choose to breastfeed should consider giving a bottle of formula per night.

Yet, the exact quantity of cow’s milk to be given to the child is unknown; more research is required before giving any concrete advice to mothers, stated Katz.

Katz added that if the baby is not exposed to cow’s milk in first 15 days, mother should wait until the child is one-year old to introduce cow’s milk in the diet.

Moreover, a baby should never be introduced to cow’s milk in the three to five month period, added Katz.

Coleen Rooney gave birth to son Kai last November and had said that she wouldn’t rush to lose her baby weight.

But it looks like the WAG has succumbed to the pressure to slim down.

The wife of England striker Wayne Rooney put on a stone and a half while pregnant with Kai, with some of her post-baby weight still evident on an earlier holiday to Barbados in February.
However, over the spring, the 24-year-old cut out sugar from her diet and started exercising with her personal trainer Elise Lindsay three times a week.

Previously size 10 to 12 before her pregnancy, 5ft 3in Coleen is now a size 8 after shifting one and half stone.

A friend of the WAG said she is avoiding carbohydrates and doing a combination of weights, floor exercises, running, swimming and walking to shift the pounds.
The source told Closer magazine: ‘She’s pretty much been living on salads with chicken or fish as well as loads of veg. She’s been having smaller portions too. The weight’s just fallen off.

‘Coleen makes sure she does at least 30 minutes a day of cardio, either a run, swim or fast walk.’

Before giving birth to Kai Wayne in November, Coleen said she would prioritise motherhood over hitting the gym.

She said: ‘I’m not planning on rushing into losing weight. I do at some point want to go back to the gym, but what’s the point in going mad to lose weight? ‘I’d do it sensibly, have a sensible diet and go to the gym. At the end of day, I want to spend time with my baby and enjoy that, so there’s no reason to get back in shape fast.’

We have all by now heard of Wedding Planners. The latest thing now is, apparently, Baby Planners (or ‘baby concierges’). Across the United States and Canada, “baby concierges” are being enlisted by expectant parents to help plan and decide issues such as pushchairs, nursery decor, feeding parapernalia and everything else you can think of that’s involved in preparing for an impending addition to the family. And when America sneezes, the UK catches a cold, so expect these services to come to our shores pretty soon.

“It’s really overwhelming, especially when consumer products are so bound up with moral, ethical, esthetic and safety concerns all at the same time,” says Michelle Meagher, assistant professor of feminist cultural studies at the University of Alberta. “A baby concierge is a logical response.”

In the last three years, some 60 to 70 baby concierge businesses have been conceived in North America. According to the International Baby Planner Association, the average hourly rates run between $50 and $150, while packages can cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to upward of $1,000.

Toronto’s Samantha Leeson, founder of BabyReady, describes the service as a “one-stop solution” to parenting anxiety.

“The biggest misconception about baby-planning services is that . . . if (women) can’t find time to prepare for the birth, then how will they have time to be a parent? It’s totally unfounded. We’re simply around to help them find their bearings,” says Leeson.

“Yes, we plan baby showers and help source out eco-responsible nursery furniture. But we also teach prenatal classes, offer lactation services, co-ordinate meal-planning and delivery services and have access to family portrait photographers and massage therapists who will visit an expectant mother in her home.”

Martina Rosini, who helms Vancouver Baby Planners, puts it this way: “Just like hiring a wedding planner wouldn’t make you a bad spouse, hiring a baby planner doesn’t make you a bad parent. If anything, it makes you a well-organized, well-informed parent.”

Shannon Choe, founder of Premier Baby Concierge in Pennsylvania, credits the fledgling industry’s steady growth to people’s desire for individualization.

“It’s information overload out there — almost like when you’re trying to use the Internet to diagnose a rash. You’re like: ‘Does that apply to me? Wait, would that work for me?’” says Choe, a mother of three. “The beauty of this is that it’s so tailored and personalized.”

Deborah Skolnik, senior editor at Parenting magazine, says support for the concierge concept is evident in everything from its economics — “a baby planner may end up saving you more than she will cost you” — to its progressive implication that being a good parent doesn’t mean loving everything that goes along with parenthood.

But there are drawbacks, too, to letting experts trump instincts.

“It’s a rite of passage to stand in front of six different gliders and try to decide which is the right one for you,” says Skolnik. “(Childcare) is a messy business, and having someone else do everything from the start doesn’t necessarily set you up for the shock.”

Jennifer Aniston must be cursed or something. If rumours are true, she’s been desperate for a baby for years. Then her husband Brad Pitt splits up with her with some question over a dispute about whether or not to have a baby (whereupon Brad promptly shacks up with Ange and starts some kind of baby factory); now another ex, Vince Vaughn and his wife of six months, Kyla Weber, are expecting their first child.

According to the source that announced the pregnancy, “They’re having so much fun together and they’re so excited to be first-time parents!”

Last year, Vince told reporters he was finally ready to be a father. “It’s the first time that I really want to have kids,” he said. Now his wish is coming true!

Vaughn, 40, and Weber, 32, wed in January 2010 in a small ceremony outside the actor’s Chicago hometown. “They could not be happier,” a friend said.

A new study shows that the parts of the human brain that grow the most during infancy and childhood are nearly identical to the brain regions that have changed the most when humans are compared to primates.

Researchers made the discovery as they conducted a study to try to better understand abnormal brain development in premature babies and assess the long-term effects of premature birth on brain development.

In analysing the brain scans of 12 full-term babies and comparing them to the scans of 12 healthy young adults, the researchers found that the cerebral cortex – the wrinkled area on the surface of the brain responsible for higher mental functions – grew unevenly.

A quarter to a third of the cortex expanded around twice as much as other cortical areas during normal development.

The findings reveal “evolution’s imprint on the human brain” because the rapidly developing parts of the brain are also those that differ most when the human brain is compared to those of primates.

High-growth regions have been linked to advanced mental functions such as language and reasoning and traits that make humans uniquely human.

Previous studies have shown that many of the brain’s high-growth regions “are expanded in humans as a result of recent evolutionary changes that made the human brain much larger than that of any other primate”, said David Van Essen, one of the study’s authors.

Van Essen, who developed the surface reconstruction technique used to scan the brain regions, speculated that the full physical growth of the rapid-growth regions may be delayed somewhat to allow them to be shaped by early life experiences.

Inder hypothesised that certain regions of the brain might develop more quickly in young infants for evolutionary reasons.

For instance, the part of the brain responsible for vision, which is necessary to allow a baby to bond with his mother during nursing, develops early, while brain functions less important early in life come later.

Emma Bunton says she would love to have another child with long-term partner Jade Jones. Their first child, Beau, was born in August 2007 and the former Spice Girl says she’s ready to have another one soon.

She said: “I’d love to have another little baby, I mean, Beau is just my life, he’s my priority, he’s just so wonderful and I get lots of kisses and cuddles and there’s nothing quite like it”.

However, Emma, who is fronting Five’s new musical performance-based talent show, Don’t Stop Believing, says she has no immediate plans to marry Jade, saying: “We’re very happy as we are”.

Meanwhile, David and Victoria Beckham are still ‘at it’, trying for another baby, since Victoria is said to be keen to have a girl.

Footballer David Beckham says that he and his wife Victoria would love to add to their brood of boys: Brooklyn, 11, Romeo, 7, and Cruz, 5.

“We’re always trying,” he reveals. “If we’re lucky enough to have more, that will be amazing.”

The soccer star, who recently returned from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, also reveals a bit about his boys’ personalities, saying, “Every day the kids say something funny. Brooklyn doesn’t say much. Cruz will talk the whole day. Romeo the same but Brooklyn says hardly anything. He’s starting to notice girls, typical teenager.”

A study has found that babies born outside normal working hours are up to 70 per cent more likely to die through being starved of oxygen because of a lack of senior clinicians on the wards.

Research involving one million births over 20 years found that those born outside the normal nine to five Monday to Friday working hours were more likely to die.

The researchers from Cambridge University said the overall increased risk was small, the difference of one or two extra deaths per 10,000 live babies born, but extra staffing would minimise the problem.

Even when planned caesarean sections were excluded (which have a very low risk of death from lack of oxygen), there was still a 45% increased risk of death due to lack of oxygen when the baby was born out of hours.

One in four babies who died due to a lack of oxygen had been born outside normal hours.

Writing online in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the experts said there could be several reasons for the findings.

Prof Smith wrote: “For example, it could be explained by variation in staffing at different times of day, such as the total number of staff or the profile of staff, in particular the immediate availability of senior clinicians.

“It could also be related to access to clinical facilities, such as obstetric operating theatres. 2

They said tiredness among staff was unlikely to be to blame because the women themselves were at no higher risk of dying out of hours.

He concluded: “Improving the level of clinical care for women delivered out of normal working hours might reduce overall rates of perinatal death.”

Dr Tahir Mahmood, vice president (standards) at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: “All women admitted to the maternity unit, irrespective of the risk factors, should be provided with one-to-one care in labour by a midwife and an experienced obstetrician.

“The interpretation of a baby’s heart rate tracings (known as CTG) requires special knowledge and experience.

“Quite often subtle changes in the CTG as early warning signs of asphyxia can only be interpreted by experienced doctors, and junior doctors need to be supported and educated to acquire this skill.

“It is therefore crucial to have experienced obstetricians (consultants) working in labour ward during the out-of-hours period.

“Previous research has shown that increased consultant presence in the labour ward has many benefits, including reduced Caesarean-section rates.”

Janet Scott, Research Manager, at Sands, a charity for parents affected by stillbirth or the death of a newborn, said: “It is shocking that some babies are dying in our maternity units directly because the quality of care at night and at weekends is of a poorer standard than care during working hours.

“Had these babies been born at a different time of day they may well have survived. This is completely unacceptable. A baby’s life should not rest on whether or not they are born in office hours.

“This study confirms the stories that Sands hears time and again from parents whose baby has died and who feel the care they received was below standard because the staff were poorly prepared to deal with the unexpected or that it took too long to access the facilities that might have saved their baby’s life. The loss of a baby is hard enough to bear, but it is even more agonising if you know that the death might have been avoided.”

Most heavily pregnant women choose to wear loose clothing and flowing dresses for comfort purposes during their last trimester.

But in keeping with making sure that everyone and their dog knows that she is with pregnant, Natalie Cassidy, who is nearly seven months pregnant, decided to show off her huge baby bump by wearing a skintight black dress to The Karate Kid premiere in London’s Leicester Square.

The 27-year-old actress arrived at the cinema with fiancé Adam Cottrell, with whom she is expecting her first child, looking glamorous in the slash neck dress which she teamed with black peeptoe heels and a backcombed hairdo.
Clearly proud of her curvy figure, Natalie smiled widely as she posed for photographers on the red carpet before heading in to see the film.

Natalie, who previously released a fitness DVD after slimming down to a size eight, recently said she has no intention of rushing into losing weight after she gives birth.

She said: ‘I couldn’t just shove my baby off somewhere because I want to lose weight, I want to be a proper mum.’
And Natalie added that transport manager Adam will love her whatever her size, explaining: ‘Most blokes will love us whatever weight we are when we have their babies, and they don’t seem to care how thin a woman is.’

Other stars to attend the premiere in London tonight included the film’s producers Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, who were supporting their 12-year-old son Jaden – the star of the remake.

While the movie is not Jaden’s silver screen debut – he previously starred alongside his dad in The Pursuit Of Happyness in 2006 and alongside Keanu Reeves in The Day The Earth Stood Still – it is the first film vehicle he has fronted.