NEWSWORTHY
Austrians push government for legally protected paternity leave for all fathers
Austria's leaders are coming under increasing pressure to grant statutory paternity leave to all fathers, despite fierce resistance in business circles. Austria has allowed fathers to take an unpaid month off following the birth of their children — the "Papamonat" ("daddy's month") — since 2017, ...
Florida woman reunited with daughter she thought died at birth 69 years ago
An 88-year-old American woman has been reunited with the daughter she was told had died at birth 69 years ago, The New York Times reported. Genevieve Purinton of Tampa, Florida, 69-year-old Connie Moultroup of Richmond, Vermont, for the first time this month, the newspaper said. Purinton ...
Japan set to introduce first domestic-made liquid baby formula in 2019
Ezaki Glico Co. will become the first Japanese company to make and sell liquid baby formula in the country. After obtaining permission from the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the Consumer Affairs Agency, the maker of food and dairy products aims to launch the ...
Children of older fathers run higher health risks at birth: study
Newborns of fathers aged 45 or above older are more likely to be underweight or wind up in intensive care, researchers reported Thursday, adding to the list of problems associated with older paternity. For fathers 55 and up, infants tended to score worse in a ...
France opens national investigation after reports of spike in birth defects
France has launched a nationwide investigation into why babies in some parts of the country have been born without hands or arms after several new cases were reported this week, the health minister said Wednesday. Public health agency Sante Publique France said it had identified ...
Two male penguins who paired up as a "same-sex couple" have incubated a baby chick and are "doting" on their tiny offspring, an Australian aquarium announced Friday. Gentoo penguins Sphen and Magic are happily "taking turns caring for their baby chick," born on October 19 ...
Women's birth canals in Africa, Asia, America have different dimensions: study
The size and shape of women's birth canals vary depending on what part of the world they live in, but most medical textbooks are based on a European body type, scientists said Wednesday, warning of health risks. Differences in the depth and width of the ...
Japan needs to tighten up its legal procedures for child-custody battles, and extra steps should be taken to make sure the children's interests are protected as well.
The problem of people lacking family registry must be eliminated, and legal hurdles that need to be fixed to resolve the problem should be quickly addressed.
Hundreds of Philippine mums join mass breastfeeding event to highlight child health benefits
Hundreds of Philippine mothers simultaneously nursed their babies in public on Sunday, some of them two at a time, in a government-backed mass breastfeeding event aimed at combating child deaths. About 1,500 women, some of them wearing tiaras and superhero T-shirts, sat on the vast ...
Men who want to become dads advised to wear boxers instead of tight-fitting briefs
Men trying to become a father are better off wearing loose underwear, according to a study published Thursday. Compared to men who favor snug briefs, wearers of boxer shorts had significantly higher sperm counts and concentrations, researchers reported in the journal Human Reproduction. The sperm ...
Postpartum support for mothers in Japan defies government efforts to promote it
Postpartum support for mothers to cope with depression and other mental health maladies is still hard to come by despite government efforts in recent years to promote it, a survey shows. Funding and staff shortages are the major obstacles to making such support more widely ...
