Mother kills 5 year old daughter raped by her boyfriend
Big News Network.com Saturday 31st October, 2009

A South African woman has been charged with murdering her two children, a girl and a boy aged 5 and 3.
A South African woman has been charged with murdering her two children, a girl and a boy aged 5 and 3.

The murders are believed to have been carried out to protect the 24-year-old woman's boyfriend, who last month raped the 5 year old at the family's home in Sweetwaters, Pietermaritzburg, kraal.

The woman, Zanele Mngadi, covered up the rape however her family learned of it on Sunday and reported it to police.

The man accused of the rape appeared in court on Monday. The woman went to the court to support her friend and returned home to her children. The following day she allegedly murdered the children so that in her view there would be no evidence to convict her friend.

Police opposed bail at Friday's hearing.

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PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 19 PA-CHOP-carseats-stdy

Boosters especially effective in side impact crashes

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A study released today in Pediatrics by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia offers updated evidence that children ages 4 to 8 who are restrained in the rear seat of a car in a belt-positioning booster seat are 45 percent less likely to be injured in a crash compared with children using a seat belt alone. Furthermore, the study showed there was no difference in the level of protection offered by backless versus high back booster seats. Of those riding in booster seats, children involved in side-impact crashes saw the greatest reduction in injury risk.

Researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Injury Research and Prevention studied more than 7,000 children ages 4 to 8 involved in real-world crashes between 1998 and 2007.

"We wanted to take a fresh look at booster seats' effectiveness to reduce injury among this age group, because when we first evaluated the protective benefits of booster seats in 2002, most children using them were 4 and 5 years old," explains lead researcher Kristy Arbogast, Ph.D., Director of Engineering at CHOP's Center for Injury Research and Prevention. "Since then, usage rates among older kids ages 6- to 8 have tripled, and we wanted to be sure these older kids were as well-protected by booster seats as the younger ones, now that we had more data. We found that injury reduction offered by booster seats remains significant even when a greater proportion of older children are included in the study."

Researchers attribute the sharp increase in booster seat use among older children, in part, to many states passing upgrades to their child restraint laws that require booster seats for children older than age 4. The upper age limit of these booster laws varies by state and ranges from 6 through 8 years. Passage of these laws is associated with a nearly 40% increase in child restraint use among children up to age 8. While 47 states have booster seat laws, only 25 states and the District of Columbia require booster seats for children up to at least age 8. Florida, Arizona, and South Dakota have no booster seat law. The CHOP researchers recommend policymakers work to close these gaps in the laws to cover children to at least age 8 so that parents have the best information to protect their children.

"Based this new analysis of a decade's worth of data on children involved in crashes, policymakers, pediatricians and health educators should continue to recommend as best practice the use of belt-positioning booster seats once a child outgrows a harnessed based child restraint until he/she is at least 8 years of age," says Dennis Durbin, M.D., M.S.C.E., Co-Scientific Director of The Center for Injury Research and Prevention and study co-author. "Additionally, these results can give confidence to parents and health educators that choosing between a high back versus a backless booster seat for their child does not represent a compromise in safety."

More information about this study, along with videos and fact sheets for parents about how to choose and install the right child restraint for your child and you vehicle are available at www.chop.edu/carseat. Additionally, an up-to-date chart of state booster seat laws and information is available at http://www.iihs.org/laws/childrestraint.aspx.

About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric health care professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 430-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.

About The Center for Injury Research and Prevention
The Center for Injury Research and Prevention (formerly TraumaLink) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was established in 1998 to advance the safety of children and young adults through science. Operating with the central belief that children are not small adults, the Center's multidisciplinary team of researchers work to reduce injuries- the leading cause of death and acquired disability among the young. The Center's research is organized around three disciplines: epidemiology/ biostatistics, engineering, and behavioral science. Based on the research questions at hand, the Center draws from CHOP and University of Pennsylvania-based expertise in emergency medicine; pediatric trauma; surgery; nursing; social work; pediatric and adolescent medicine; epidemiology and biostatistics; bioengineering; computational engineering; psychology; behavioral science; communications; and health education. Center findings are published in scientific journals and translated into recommendation and education tools for parents, educators, policymakers and product manufacturers. For more information on the Center and its research initiatives, visit www.chop.edu/injury.

CONTACT: Dana Mortensen
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
mortensen@email.chop.edu
267-426-6092

SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

children, safety, parenting, health

He is the beautiful baby boy she feared she might never live to see.

When Sharon Pentleton was five-months pregnant, a virulent case of swine flu left her fighting for life.

Plunged into a coma, the 27-year-old was airlifted abroad for emergency treatment. The prospects for her and her unborn baby were bleak.

Sharon Pentleton pictured with baby son, Spencer

Miracle: Sharon Pentleton holds Spencer, the son she feared she would not meet

But yesterday, after an amazing fight back to good health, the proud new mum welcomed her son Spencer home for the first time.

Beaming with joy, she said: ‘I can hardly believe  he’s here.’

Only four months ago, Miss Pentleton was fighting for her life after becoming one of the highest-profile victims of swine flu.

Suddenly struck down by the disease, she was rushed to Sweden for specialist treatment to keep her body working as the infection ravaged her lungs.

Her terrified family could only hope and pray after Miss Pentleton went into a coma for two weeks.

They waited at her bedside to see whether doctors could save her – and whether there was any hope of protecting her unborn child.

In the darkest hour, medics warned that the outlook was bleak. The family was told Miss Pentleton might not survive – and, even if she did, her baby might suffer either because of the disease or because of the extreme treatment she was undergoing.

But, this week, Miss Pentleton gave birth to Spencer, a healthy boy weighing 6lb and 141⁄2oz.
Brian Muirhead and Sharon Pentleton with their baby son Spencer

Then there were three: Brian and Sharon cuddle baby son Spencer

Last night, as she took him to the home she shares with partner Brian Muirhead, she said: ‘He’s the beautiful baby boy I thought I’d never live to see. I feel great to be home with him – I can hardly believe he’s here. Having Spencer home makes all that happened seem like a nightmare that is all in the past now.’

And Mr Muirhead, 30, said: ‘I’m just so happy that they’re home and everything’s OK.

‘There was a point when I thought neither of them would make it – it’s just amazing they’re here now.’

Read more here

This story made me happy especially after all the sad and horrific news going on in the world, like my previous post on Michael Brewer, the teen who was burned by his peers.

h1n1, swine flu, pregnancy, motherhood, children