'Guardian Angel' Gives Birth, Returns Baby After Embryo Mistake

Police are summoned, he 'fesses up

(NEWSER) - Forget cigars. One Pennsylvania dad decided he’d celebrate the impending birth of his kid by lighting up a joint with a buddy—right in the hospital, the Pittsburgh Tribune reports. He was considerate enough to use the designated smoking area, but a nurse, catching a whiff of the distinctive odor, alerted hospital security, who called the police. More»

Are discount clinics a good idea?

(NEWSER) - Fertility treatment doesn't come cheap—IVF typically costs $15,000. But a new wave of clinics hope to ease the expense, reports Newsweek . In St. Louis, for instance, a new facility offers a range of treatments for about $7,500. The goal is equal access, say supporters. "A woman’s right to have a chance to try to have a child should be available to all,” one doc says. More»

Effective harvesting procedure involves no risk to mother, child

(NEWSER) - Scientists have found an effective way to extract stem cells from placentas, where they’re abundant, after babies are born, the Guardian reports. Placentas contain up to five times as many of the key cells as cord blood, which has become a common source, and they may be more primitive, which makes them more versatile, they say. “Yes, the stem cells are there; yes, they are viable; and yes, we can get them out,” says the team leader at a hospital in Oakland, Calif. More»

Research casts doubt on benefits of inducing birth at 37 or 38 weeks

(NEWSER) - New research suggests that inducing birth two or three weeks ahead of the full 40 weeks isn't as harmless as many doctors believe, the Globe and Mail reports. The study found that children born after 37 weeks tended to have IQs 1.7 points lower than those born at 38 or 39 weeks, and had a higher, though small, risk of dying in early infancy. More»

(NEWSER) - A British fertility clinic implanted the wrong embryo into a woman who aborted it as soon as she found out, dashing another couple's hopes of having their second baby, reports the Telegraph. When a lab assistant informed the couple, they "held each other and sobbed," said the woman. “I remember thinking: ‘That’s our last hope gone—we will never have another child.’" A rash of recent mistakes has resulted in calls for more regulation of the fertility industry. More»