The Mommy Blawg

HEALTH NEWS

Breast-fed babies are 20% less likely to die in the first year of life than those who are not, according to a new study reported in the May 2004 edition of Pediatrics. And, the longer the babies were breast-fed, the lower the risk of early death. Interestingly, the reduction in the mortality rate came not only from deaths due to illness and SIDS, but also decreased by 31% deaths due to injury.

Links:
Breastfed Babies Less Likely to Die, Study Finds, The Washington Post.
Breastfeeding and Saving Lives, Dr. Greene’s Daily Dose (May 3, 2004).
Breastfed Infants Less Likely to Die, WebMD Health.


And another study just released suggests that women who have dental x-rays while pregnant have a higher risk of having low-birth-weight babies. Dr. Michael Fleming, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, is quoted as saying that the study "really changes the information that we’ve believed all these years."

At the Dentist's: Risk of X-Rays and Pregnancy, The New York Times.
Dental X-rays may lead to smaller babies, MSNBC.com