Opinion

If you’re the mother of a baby and can’t wait to go for your first mother-daughter manicure, get her fitted for her first bra, or give her a makeover, you might get a kick out of Heelarious infant high heels. "Her first high heels" are crib shoes for infants under six months old. The shoes ($35), which come in black patent leather, black satin, pink patent leather, hot pink satin, and zebra and leopard prints, are meant as a joke and not intended to be walked in (the heels collapse if pressure is put on them).

Co-inventor Britta Bacon came up with the concept when her daughter turned four, saying, "It would have been hilarious if I could have brought Kayla to a party in high heels when she was a baby."

What do you think of Heelarious? Hilarious or disgusting?

Which celebrity parents could you imagine loving these?

Thanks to CBB Reader Hayley who wrote, "I’m an avid CBB reader and usually have a lot to say, but when it comes to this I am lost for words!"

Update: Ricki has responded to the AMA’s resolution. She tells the Associated Press,

I am pro-choice when it comes to childbirth and choices in birth. Home birth was around long before hospitals were taking over – and I just think women need to know (the information) so that they can make the best choice for them.

Originally posted June 17th: Whether or not there is an actual homebirth movement afoot, it appears as though the American Medical Association (AMA) fears there is.  It recently proposed a resolution which declares that women seeking to deliver at home under the care of a certified professional midwife (CPM) are putting their unborn children at risk, and the AMA is laying the blame for suggestions to the contrary — at least in part — squarely on the shoulders of Ricki Lake.

The 39-year-old actress produced and appeared in The Business of Being Born, a documentary which examines the benefits of homebirth while laying out the disadvantages of delivering in a hospital setting.  “There has been much attention in the media by celebrities having home deliveries,” the resolution notes. It goes on to cite an appearance by Ricki on the Today show where she discussed her homebirth with son Owen Tyler, turning 7 tomorrow, and her decision to include footage of his delivery in the film as further evidence that homebirth is being improperly promoted.

“An apparently uncomplicated pregnancy or delivery can quickly become very complicated,” the AMA warns, “necessitating the need for rigorous standards, appropriate oversight of obstetric providers and the availability of emergency care.”  To that end, the resolution indicates the AMA’s intent to develop model legislation “in support of the concept that the safest setting for labor, delivery and the immediate post-partum period is in the hospital, or a birthing center within a hospital complex.”

In addition to Owen, Ricki is mom to Milo Sebastian, 11.

Source:  TMZ; Photo by Flynet.

Do you think The Business of Being Born improperly promotes homebirth? (Whether or not you had a homebirth, please remember to be respectful of other women’s birth choices when you post a comment.)

Actors John Fortson and Christie Lynn Smith recently shared with CBB that they had welcomed their first child, daughter Abby Ryder, 7 weeks ago, and now they are giving us a little insight into their lives with her, and also discussed how happy they are with a certain diapering product.

So many people have asked us about our daughter Abby being born that Christie and I wanted to share a little with you and all our friends out there as well as a few of our favorite pictures so far.

We have been truly blessed by the birth of our daughter Abby Ryder Fortson. Becoming parents is a magical time and you find every single cliché coming true whether you want it to or not. Your life will change. You’ll fall in love. You won’t sleep. You’ll just stare at your baby for hours. Etc … It’s all true.

Continue reading for more on the family’s update and how they feel about using Happy Heinys on Abby.

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I was bothered by what Salma Hayek said on Oprah about women who lose weight when breastfeeding not eating enough and that weight loss while breastfeeding is a lie. I know from my personal experience that it isn’t a lie – I ate well, didn’t intentionally exercise (I took a lot of stroller walks), and still lost all of my pregnancy weight and then some. Many friends, relatives and others have shared similar stories to me. I do know, however, that many women do not lose weight at all while breastfeeding or not until their child weans. So I asked an expert, lactation consultant Catherine Genna, BS, IBCLC, about the weight loss. Here’s what she said:

People with gestational diabetes [like Salma] have a 33% chance of getting type 2diabetes in their lifetime, so their carbohydrate metabolism is alreadyproblematic. Type 2 diabetes rates are strongly linked to obesity,though genetics play a role as well. Breastfeeding protects women fromtype 2 diabetes, even 10 years after their baby weans. So there is a lotgoing on that we don’t fully understand.

Women are primed to put on fat during pregnancy to support lactation.Lactation is a fairly energy efficient process. The body changes the wayit does things (absorbs more nutrients from food, reabsorbs more calciumfrom the kidneys) to be more efficient while breastfeeding. The "old"studies that CALCULATED that women needed 500 extra calories a dayduring breastfeeding are likely responsible for some of the "not losingweight" during breastfeeding. We make up for the extra calories with ourfat stores and by reduced activity while we sit and breastfeed ourbabies. Studies that actually measured weight loss (rather thancalculating by some proxy measure) showed that breastfeeding women onaverage lose more weight than women who don’t breastfeed.

The big problem is that our bodies are designed for hunter-gathering,and we now have access to tons of food without having to walk or dig orhunt to get it. Being reasonably active after birth and eating a widevariety of foods with as little processing as possible (apples ratherthan apple pie or apple granola bars) will result in a healthier body.

Unfortunately in the US the cheapest foods are the most processed; themost fat, sugar and salt laden; and the least nutrient dense. This meansthat many people in poverty are undernourished even while they areobese. TV or video/computer games are the safest thing your kids can doin an urban neighborhood. They are inside, away from the dangers of thestreet. This promotes obesity too. Many of us were not breastfedourselves, which also affects our number of fat cells and ourmetabolism. Our social activities mostly involve eating, and sittingstill. We have a lot of Standard American Diet (SAD) to overcome beforewe can see how our bodies are supposed to be. 

If you breastfed, what was your experience losing weight? Did you lose weight or hang onto it until you stopped? If you had gestational diabetes and breastfed, what was your postpartum weight loss experience? If you formula fed one child and breastfed another, what kind of difference did you notice in terms of weight loss?

Note: Please keep comments limited to the questions asked about nursing and weight loss, not about breast vs. formula in general. If you’d like to discuss Salma’s interview, please head to the original post.

People Magazine’s photo spread of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony’s twins Max and Emme revealed their lush and luxurious nursery that included two Bratt Decor Casablanca Cribs in slate, Art 4 Kids’ Madison Bedding and an ivory Max Daniel blanket. However, Parents Magazine is up in arms because they are concerned about what they say are major safety hazards in the room:

• The pillows, stuffed animals and blankets in the cribs and draped canopies are suffocation hazards
• Bows tied onto the crib slats are choking hazards.
• The open window doesn’t have a window guard.

While it’s true that these concerns are valid, I think the editors of Parents are jumping the gun. As we learned with Brooke Burke’s nursery for daughter Heaven Rain and Baby Boy Charvet, the room was styled and staged for a beautiful photo shoot. Most likely, all hazards would be removed before the babies are put in the cribs. Also, Jennifer and Marc acknowledged in their interview that the babies often sleep with them.

What do you think? Did Parents magazine overreact or are their concerns valid?

CBB Reader S. had a strong reaction to the recent posts about celebrity moms of girls who have made statements about wanting a son and sent us this editorial:

I’ve noticed lately that there are a lot of articles about celebs who "want a boy!" (Brooke Shields) or are "we have waited all our lives for a son" (Brooke Burke). I find this slightly annoying, in the sense that it implies that having daughters and no sons is something regrettable. Why is this? I also feel compelled to say: we seldom, if ever, hear the opposite — mothers of sons wishing they had a daughter.

Throughout the ages, sons have been more valued than daughters for various reasons, some practical, some not-so-practical. However, we are in the eighth year of the second millennium. Why the continued, "We need a son to complete the family" sentiment, without any corresponding, "We need a daughter to complete the family" sentiment? Why is it that mothers of daughters feel compelled to say they want a son, whereas mothers of sons, even if they actually do want a daughter (and I know many of them do), feel compelled to stay silent?

I suppose you could say I have a personal stake in this. I don’t have any children myself, but I was born a second daughter to my parents. I wondered for a long time if my parents were disappointed that I was not a boy, until I learned that they actually expected me to be a girl, because I was their second child. It was my older sister that they expected to be a boy, and they were disappointed that she wasn’t. Although that made me feel good on one level, it  made me feel bad on another level. Why were they disappointed that my older sister was a girl? What is so bad about having a girl as your first child? What is so bad about having only girls?

Would it have been so bad if Brooke Burke’s fourth child was a girl? Some of the people who replied to her, "I’m having a son!" announcement sure seemed to think so: "I have a friend who was stuck with four daughters." Stuck with four daughters? Is having four daughters some kind of a curse?

In any case, I think that any birth, regardless of the gender of the baby, is a blessing. Daughters are just as precious as sons, as any infertile couple who would give anything for a baby of either gender would tell you.

What is your reaction to what Shelley wrote? Do you think moms of all girls are more likely to talk about wanting a boy than moms of all boys and if so, why? If you’re the mom of all girls or all boys, do you want to try to have one of the opposite sex?

by Nataly Kogan, co-founder and CEO of Work It, Mom!, and author of the Work It, Mom! blog

(The views expressed by our guest columnists are not necessarily those of the Celebrity Baby Blog.)

I thought for a while about not writing this post. It involves Britney Spears and for a gazillion reasons I don’t want to be yet another writer/reporter/blogger/person writing about her and her endless issues. It also makes some pretty big generalizations based on a few data points and that’s not my favorite type of post. But I just couldn’t make it go away, I kept thinking about it, and so here goes.

This weekend I was browsing through The New York Times online (the only way I get to catch up on reading the paper these days, during nap time, while taking a 10-minute break from work) and came across an article titled Boys Will Be Boys, Girls Will Be Hounded By The Media. It’s main point is the fact that the press seems to be much harsher and tougher on women celebrities than on men. (E.g. When Kiefer Sutherland got released from jail, most media outlets ignored the event, but a pandemic of coverage erupted when Paris Hilton returned to complete her jail sentence.)

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I was watching the video for will.i.am’s Yes We Can Song, inspired by Barack Obama‘s powerful speech after the New Hampshire Primary (watch the original speech here), and noticed a celebrity baby among the celebs- former supermodel Amber Valetta’s son, Auden McCaw, 7, with his mom. Not only that, but in researching the origins of the song and video, I discovered that the video was directed by Jesse Dylan, one of Bob Dylan’s sons.

It’s significant to note that the Obama campaign had absolutely no involvement with the video. will.i.am states in an interview on ABC News and on yeswecansong.com that he was inspired by Obama’s speech after the New Hampshire Primary that he wrote the song and called a bunch of friends to come over and record the video.  Since then, it’s spread like crazy because so many others have been moved by it.

Other celebrities appearing in the insanely viral video (it’s been viewed over 1 million times on YouTube in the last two days) include John Legend, Common,Herbie Hancock, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali,Nick Cannon, Kate Walsh, Adam Rodriguez, Kelly Hu, Eric Balfour, AishaTyler, and Nicole Scherzinger.

OPINION: For the part of the post where I give my (rarely offered) opinion, click Continue Reading. If you don’t want to hear about politics on CBB, just don’t read it. (And if you do read it and don’t agree, I told you not to read it!)

Another inspiring song/video is based on another Obama campaign motto: Fired Up, Ready to Go.

Watch Yes We Can.

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Controversy has arisen with the news that actress Nicole Kidman’s father Antony Kidman, will deliver her and Keith Urban’s child, due in July. Antony, a trained mental health specialist and his wife, Janelle Kidman, a trained nurse, are rumored to be the people who will deliver the eldest daughter’s child. The couple also delivered their younger daughter Antonia Kidman’s fourth child, Sybella Ann, last year.

However, experts have said that this is not to be encouraged. Dr. Raymond Martyres, chairman of the professional peer support program for the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said:

Our policy is that it is not appropriate conduct, except under certain circumstances, such as an emergency, or where a person has a specialized problem, and the family member in question is a specialist in that area.

This situation crosses both sexual and gender boundaries, which may cause problems. If a family member is not adequately trained, it would be particularly inappropriate for them to be heavily involved, and we would advise against it.

AMA national president Rosanna Capolingua added that there’s no decree forbidding a doctor treating a family member, and that "there’s no ethical dilemma but we recommend that it’s probably wiser to have other doctors take care of family members, because if something goes wrong, questions of blame and responsibility can become complicated." Dr Capolingua also said that she’d hope to see an obstetrician standing by, ready to assist if something were to go wrong. Also of note is the fact that medical indemnity insurance won’t cover a doctor when treating a family member.

The main concern seems to be in regards to clouded judgment and inadequacy of skills — it is not known whether Dr. Kidman is qualified to deliver the child.

As a relative, your judgment is likely to be clouded. The relationship is a personal one, not a professional one, and this can be a source of conflict. Emotional detachment is impossible if you are personally involved with the person you are treating.

There is the potential for this to have a serious impact on the relationship. If the procedure in question is unsuccessful, or if there are complications, both relations have to deal with it.

Source: The Age

Thanks to CBB reader Elizabeth

If you or someone you know has had their child delivered by a relative, please share their experience if you are comfortable. Did any of the above issues arise, or was it a pleasant experience? Please not, this post is not an opportunity for a debate, but rather an expression of thoughts and opinions. Please keep our commenting policy in mind when you leave a remark.

From the time the news broke on Tuesday night, CBB was inundated with people looking for information on Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy. The number of visitors to the site jumped 17% in the five hours following the announcement.

Very few people actually rejoice when a 16 year old gets pregnant so it’s no surprise that the backlash to Jamie Lynn Spears’ announcing that she is expecting has been primarily negative. For the most part, Celebrity Baby Blog readers seem to think it’s a mistake for 16 year olds to become parents (remember Keisha Castle-Hughes?), but many admire her for not hiding it.

The truth of the matter is that the United States’ teen pregnancy rates are still staggering. According to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 31% of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 — about 750,000 a year. Eight in ten of these pregnancies are unintended and 81% are to unmarried teens. And while the numbers of teen pregnancies had been on the decline, CNN reports that they have started to rise back up, for the first time in 14 years, statistics show a 3% increase in teens having babies.

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