Read these brief informative pieces from For Our Babies, early child care groups, and guest bloggers. Topics cover a wide range of ideas from reading, to follow-up care for children with disabilities or other special needs, to taking action for our babies and our future.
The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world without a paid-leave policy for parents at or around the birth of a child. Prenatal care in the United States remains expensive, while virtually all other industrialized countries provide free or affordable prenatal care. And, while families in the U.S. pay about 80 percent […] Read more
Chapter 7 of J. Ronald Lally’s book For Our Babies: Ending the Invisible Neglect of America’s Infants is now available on-line for free! This chapter, titled Recommended Supports and Services for Babies and Their Families, presents 20 recommendations for the direct and indirect supports that families need to help with the care of their babies. […] Read more
Mother’s Diet Before Conception Affects Her Child’s Genes This new study provides the first evidence in humans that a mother’s diet before conception could permanently affect her child’s DNA and lifelong health. Professor Andrew Prentice, Professor of International Nutrition at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said: “Our on-going research is yielding strong […] Read more
In this article “The Human Brains Need for a Social WombFINALApril2014” J. Ronald Lally tells us why the young brain needs a protected and nurtured experience equivalent to the protection a fetus receives in the womb. Because of the lasting impact of early brain structuring, Lally argues that whether a baby is cared for at […] Read more
Most American workers have very few options when it comes to taking time off to bond with a new born, adopted or foster child. National legislation, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), only ensures 12 weeks of unpaid leave to those who are covered by the law. Due to restrictions in who is covered, 40% of […] Read more
Senate Passes Child Care and Community Block Grant Reauthorization On March 13, 2014, the Senate voted 96 to 2 to pass S. 1086, the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 2014 (CCDBG), reauthorizing the the CCDBG Act of 1990 through Fiscal Year 2020. The bill was lauded as an example of how the Senate […] Read more
Economist James Heckman and colleagues conducted a new analysis of the Abecedarian Project, one of the oldest and most cited U.S. early childhood (infancy through age 5) intervention programs. Their research report, published on March 27th, 2014 in Science, shows positive effects on adult heath. The researchers collected recent data to find that children who […] Read more
Alcohol Consumption in Early Stages of Pregnancy Has Harmful Effect on Placenta Scientists have identified two harmful effects of consuming alcohol during the early stages of a pregnancy: Damage to the placenta and reduction of the important amino acid called ‘Taurine’ that is delivered through the placenta from the mother to her baby. “This research […] Read more
Administration Officials Review the State of the Union and Discuss Opportunities in Early Childhood Learning “The reason we’re here is every child — every single child in our country — deserves to have a fair chance to live up to his or her God-given potential,” _Hilary Clinton As over 1,100 early learning stakeholders met on […] Read more
Exposure to Nicotine in the Womb Increases Long-Term Risk of Obesity Recent research shows exposure to nicotine from either smoking or NRT (nicotine replacement therapy i.e., gum, patches, nasal spray and lozenges) in the womb, causes an increased risk of obesity and other long-term adverse reactions. The study was led by Daniel Hardy, PhD, assistant […] Read more
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