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Gary Taubes on prenatal tests

New York Times Magazine allowed top-selling author Gary Taubes, of Good Calories, Bad Calories fame to answer questions from readers. I was pleasantly surprised to find a question about the ethics of some types of prenatal screening given the extremely high rates of false positives and the subsequent stress and anxiety those results can cause. Taubes agrees that this is a problem and that doctors should better inform their patients. He points out, though, that many people simply want to be told what to do and expect their doctors to bear the burden of those types of decisions.

I think Taubes is right here. I am lucky enough to live in Ontario where midwives are regulated and covered by public health care as an alternative to obstetricians. I opted for midwifery care during my pregnancy and was treated to leisurely check ups throughout during which all tests, screenings, etc. were discussed in detail. My midwife informed me about what advocates for or against any given procedure were concerned about and what the standard procedure was. Most doctors, unfortunately, don’t have the time for such detailed discussions and — what’s more — I can imagine members of my own family who simply would not want all those details. And I can certainly understand that. (You don’t want your auto mechanic going over every rationale — just fix it already!) And I’m still not sure that I made the best choice regarding all my procedures. Did I really need that ultrasound at 12 weeks?

But it was my choice in the end. And I am glad to have had it.

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Baby’s First Reading: Pretending to Read and Signs of Readiness

Here is my very first post, and I’m already foregoing any real information or insight in order to boast about my boy. I left him strapped in his stroller at the bottom of the stairs while I ran up to fetch some last minute item. Returning, I find that he’s picked up the “notice of filming” flyer left on the steps and is loudly and enthusiastically pretending to read from it. When I ask if he’s reading, he gives me a huge grin and then drags his finger under the words while babbling all the more eagerly. My boy is not quite 18 months old and it is only in the past 3 or 4 months that he’s really started to enjoy being read to. So I am blown away by both the pretending in itself and the attention to the printed word. (There was only solid text on this paper.) And, really, it was just unbelievably cute.

I did some very preliminary research (ie. Google search) to find out if there is some expected time-line for this kind of behaviour. All I found, though, was that pretending to read normally happens by age 3. And, elsewhere, that pretending to read is a sign of reading readiness in school age children. (Obviously, we are not pretending in quite the same way!)

I do know that it’s so easy for us proud parents to latch on to all kinds of things as signs of advanced skills. (And there’s nothing wrong with that. I know my boy is bright, even if he’s not quite as sophisticated as I sometimes imagine.) By most accounts, though, most kids are caught up with one another by 3 or so and there’s really no clear advantage to early talking. At my boy’s age, too, I need to remember that while I know how much he talks, he’s often quiet around others. And their kids are quiet around me.

Despite the variations, the rate at which all kids learn language comprehension and verbal communication in the 2nd year just floors me. It also means that I’m going to have to watch what I say!

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