The already controversial BeautifulPeople.com, a dating site with a strict ban on ugly people, has taken this one step further, and this will surely be hotly debated again.

It has recently launched a virtual sperm and egg bank for people who want to have beautiful babies. The Beautiful Baby service – which is also available to non-members – was created for people who want to maximize their chances of having good looking children.

This raises for me all sorts of disturbing issues. Who will decide what beauty is, for instance? And is not beauty a quality of the inner heart and of character as much as a visual phenomenon?

I remain wholly sceptical of this initative and hope that others will be too. I think that it is misguided to select one aspect of beauty over another in this facile way.

“Our family of iPhone Birth Announcement apps for Your family”

ItsABoy! ItsAGirl! ItsTwins! ItsTwins2! ItsABrother! ItsASister! ItsAGranddaughter! ItsAGrandson! ItsANiece! ItsANephew!

For $1.99 you get the app and you can email as many birth announcements as you want. No Postage! Send it right from the hospital!

Makes a great baby shower gift!

Visit http://www.dawnkempf.com for more information

It is said that 10 million babies need resuscitation at birth. In the U.S., they have made a memorandum with regards to this issue.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a Memorandum of Understanding this week with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Laerdal Medical AS, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and Save the Children.  The objective of this Global Development Alliance (GDA) is to reduce newborn mortality by expanding access to high-quality, affordable newborn resuscitation training materials and devices, improving the competence of birth attendants to resuscitate newborns, strengthening health systems and promoting global commitment and resources for life-saving newborn care.

www.usaid.gov .

As a mother, every moment spent with your baby is precious. But you also needs time to relax and this usually happens when your baby is asleep or is playing with his toys.

To help mom get more time to relax without the need to put the baby to sleep, an innovative solution was created by a group of mothers and their team of designers. 4moms recently launched their mamaRoo infant seat.

The innovative and award-winning mamaRoo

For parents who have experienced the convenience that diapers have brought to their busy life, it is hard to make the switch to cloth diapers and go through all the necessary laundry and mess. But a new survey from DiaperShops.com reveals that parents’ attitudes towards cloth diapers are not necessarily fixed.

Specifically, the survey shows that some parents say they would be willing to switch to cloth diapers once they discover that cloth diapers can save them a considerable amount of money. Environmental issues are also a big concern, with some parents saying they would be willing to switch to cloth diapers when they learn just how long disposable diapers take to decompose in landfills.

An SMS campaign was recenly launched to help improve the general health of mothers and babies. It cleverly uses text messaging technology as the most convenient way of communication and the easiest way to reach a large and varied class of recipients.

Keystone Mercy Health Plan, the largest Medicaid managed care organization in Pennsylvania, has partnered with The Maternity Care Coalition and the Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies (HMHB) Coalition, to launch the Philadelphia text4baby campaign.

Women sign up for the free service by texting “BABY” (or “BEBE,” in Spanish) to 511411. Each woman receives three, SMS text messages every week, timed to their due date or baby’s age, up to the child’s first birthday.

Being a new parent is stressful, but understanding the individual routine of your baby alleviates much of the worry.

By logging a baby’s daily activities — everything from feedings and naps to crying and diaper changes — parents can become attuned to their child’s personal life rhythm. That’s where BabyBubbles, a new award-winning iPhone app from developer Michael Kaye, can help.

BabyBubbles is a media-filled journey through your baby’s life.