News of Interest for Late-in-Life Moms November 26, 2007

Here's the latest news for moms:

Want to Lose That Baby Weight? Get Some Sleep.
Women who want to lose the extra weight they gained during pregnancy should get more sleep, according to a study of prenatal and postnatal health at Harvard Medical School. Researchers found that mothers who slept five hours or less a day when their babies were six months old were three times more likely than more rested mothers to have kept on the extra weight at one year.

AMA Wants Doctors to Encourage Mothers to Donate Umbilical Cord Blood
The American Medical Association adopted new guidelines for how physicians should discuss with their pregnant patients about donating their babies' umbilical cord blood.
"Umbilical cord blood stem cells are useful for some therapeutic purposes and as a potential source of stem cells," board member Dr. William A. Dolan said in a statement Monday. "Physicians should be prepared to discuss cord blood banking options with their patients during pregnancy."

Some Australian Women Breastfeeding Children to Age 7
A study of 107 women in Australia found that some women continued to breastfeed their children up to age 7 because the children enjoy the taste of breastmilk, the comfort it brings, as well as the sense of closeness to their mother. Some women were feeding up to a dozen times a day and one woman was feeding three children at a time.
Some pyschologists question the appropriateness of such extended breastfeeding, expressing a concern that there is too much physical and/or emotional dependence created between mother and child.