According to UNICEF (The United Nations Children’s Fund), close to 7,000 girls are aborted every day in India and there is only 927 females for every 1,000 males (which is a far lower number than the worldwide average of 1,050 females). Many of these illegal sex-selective abortions occur following illegal sex determination tests. Now, the government is offering to give thousands of dollars in staggered payments (including insurance coverage) to families of baby girls up until she turns 18, but only if she is sent to school and remains unmarried. The cash incentive is an effort to discourage the practice of aborting female fetuses due to the preference for sons only. Sons are typically thought of as breadwinners in India, while daughters as burdens because of large dowries put out to find husbands. “This will force the families to look upon the girl as an asset rather than a liability since her very existence would lead to cash inflow to the family,” said women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury.

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There may be a reason why. New research has found that new moms who are sleep deprived may have trouble getting rid of pregnancy weight. For me, I’d heard that nursing my baby would take weight off quickly. That never happened. I couldn’t figure out why I could not get the weight off after giving birth. None of my babies slept through the night until they were several months old and they all had colic! So maybe the results in this new study, explain why I couldn’t lose it. I was sleep deprived! We’ve heard that getting enough sleep is an important part of diet and weight loss, just as proper nutrition and moderate exercise are; it’s a balance. Sure wish, I knew about all of this back then, although I’m not sure it would have made that much of a difference. How does a new mom get more sleep? I’m wondering how many other moms reading this have had the same experience.

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If you have a dust mite allergy, you are probably allergic to Guanine, which is found in the mite droppings. The droppings mix with dust, so if you are allergic to either, you need to take some simple measures to reduce your amount of exposure.

Dust mites prosper in high humidity and thrive in temperatures between 68 and 84 degrees. Try to decrease the humidity in your house and particularly in yoru bedroom. Keep your bedroom clean and cool. Then, cover your mattress, pillow and box spring with hypo-allergenic encasements. Change your bedding at least two to three times a week. Remove dust catchers such as heavy drapes and knick-knacks. Use an air filter in your bedroom and always wear a face mask when you are cleaning.

There is no way you can completely remove dust mites, but with a little bit of effort, you can reduce your exposure to this allergen.

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