By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Breast-feeding moms who take medicines containing codeine may be unwittingly risking the health of their infant, new Canadian research suggests.

The study indicates that a relatively rare genetic predisposition causes some women to metabolize codeine-laced drugs into morphine far faster than normal -- possibly harming the infant's central nervous system in the process.

While the majority of pregnancies occur in hospital settings, it is becoming increasingly popular for families to request home births.

With certified nurse-midwives attending more than 306,000 births in 2005, the most recent data available, the American College of Nurse-Midwives strongly supports home births as an alternative for low risk pregnancies.

As the college says, “Every family has a right to experience childbirth within a context that respects cultural variation, human dignity, and self-determination.”

NEW YORK (AP) — Ricki Lake is firing back at physicians groups that have singled her out for bringing attention to at-home childbirth.

The 39-year-old former talk-show host is named in a recent statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that says the home is not the safest setting for having a baby.

In her film "The Business of Being Born," a documentary about the maternity care system that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, Lake is shown giving birth in the bathtub of her Manhattan apartment to her second son Owen, who turns 7 on Wednesday.

FRIDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- Many parents leave their tweens home alone for an extended period of time, even though they are not confident these 11- to 13-year-olds have the knowledge or skills to stay safe, a new poll finds.

NEW YORK - The percentage of underweight babies born in the U.S. has increased to its highest rate in 40 years, according to a new report that also documents a recent rise in the number of children living in poverty.

The data on low birth weights is worrisome because such babies — those born at less than 5.5 pounds — are at greater risk of dying in infancy or experiencing long-term disabilities.

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LOS ANGELES - Tori Spelling and husband Dean McDermott are parents again.

The "Beverly Hills, 90210" alum and McDermott welcomed their second child — 6-pound, 8-ounce Stella Doreen McDermott — at a Los Angeles hospital Monday, her publicist, Meghan Prophet, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

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LOS ANGELES - Jessica Alba and her husband Cash Warren are new parents.

The 27-year-old actress gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Honor Marie Warren, on Saturday, her publicist Brad Cafarelli said Monday in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Cafarelli didn't provide further details.

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So, how do you feel when you see this picture of the "world's oldest mom," 70-year-old Adriana Iliescu?

Do you get all warm inside, or are you appalled? And do you believe it is medical progress to allow women to give birth long after they've become pensioners?

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TUESDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- Children who drink 100 percent fruit juices apparently don't tend to be overweight, and they may enjoy more nutritious diets than kids who don't drink the beverages, a new study finds.

"We found juice consumption was not excessive among children," said lead researcher Theresa A. Nicklas, a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "In addition, 100 percent juice consumers had a better diet than children who did not drink juice."

TUESDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- There's some truth to the old wives' tale that "for every child, the mother loses a tooth," according to a New York University professor who found that women with more children are more likely to have missing teeth.

Dr. Stefanie Russell, an assistant professor of epidemiology and health promotion, examined data on 2,635 women, ages 18 to 64, who reported at least one pregnancy in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The findings were published online in the American Journal of Public Health.