Women Affairs

Nicole Richie didn't believe the news when she found out she was pregnant. She told US TV show Access Hollywood: "I didn't believe it. I was in shock. I took about 5 different tests!" The Simple Life star is due to give birth to her first child with fiance Joel Madden on New Year's Eve, but she isn't planning on slowing down until the very last minute. "I remember walking into the office and telling my managers, 'I think at around five or six months I'm probably going to be really tired and I'm not going to want to do a lot.' But I've been totally fine. I've been up and at them every single day and I've been ready to go. "You just have to listen to what your body tells you. But so far I've been great. I haven't slowed down yet!" Richie revealed she and Madden are waiting until the birth to find out the sex of their baby. The 26-year-old mother-to-be also explained her reasons behind setting up the Richie Madde...

Christina Aguilera says she is expecting a baby, finally confirming what has become obvious over the past few months. The 26-year-old singer told Glamour's UK edition that her plans for New Year's Eve involve a new baby. "That'll be about the time I enter into mommyhood so I'm hoping to have started a beautiful family with my husband!" Aguilera is quoted as saying in a story posted on the magazine's website. Emails to Aguilera's representatives seeking comment were not immediately returned today. Aguilera and music executive Jordan Bratman were married in 2005. "Oh, he's thrilled! He's just great," Aguilera said of Bratman. "He's so supportive and amazing through everything. He came with me on the last leg of the tour and he was my support system. ... I'm a lucky girl." Aguilera, who recently wrapped up a world tour in support of her latest album, "Back to Basics," plans to be a working mom. "I want it...

Halle Berry has received racist death threats to her unborn baby. The Oscar-winning beauty - who recently announced she was expecting her first child with boyfriend Gabriel Aubry - has been forced to hire security guards after allegedly receiving several disturbing letters from an anonymous writer. One note warned she and her child would be "cut into hundreds of pieces". A source close to the actress told Britain's Daily Mirror: "Halle does not normally use security but she has taken on a couple of guys to make sure." In 2002, Halle became the first woman of American African descent to win a best actress Oscar for her role in Monster's Ball. Despite the upsetting threats, Halle is enjoying her pregnancy, and her boyfriend Gabriel has revealed she is craving pickles and bread. The 32-year-old model told People magazine: "She does crave pickles. And any bread. Doesn't matter, as long as it's salt and pickles." Gabriel - who met 41-year-old Ha...

Foxy Brown has been ordered to jail for violating her probation, police said Thursday Brown (real name: Inga Marchand), 27, was remanded to state custody and ordered to jail by Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson after two recent brushes with the law, the Associated Press reports. Brown has been ordered to remain jailed until a hearing on Sept. 5. Last week, Brown surrendered to police on charges that she assaulted her Brooklyn neighbor with her BlackBerry device. Then, just one day after her surrender, police in Mahwah, N.J., pulled the rapper over after she was spotted talking on her cell phone while driving her 2007 Land Rover. Officers cited her for talking on the phone and failing to stop at a stop sign. In addition, Brown gave police officers a false birth date and a variation of her name. Forced to admit her real identity, police reportedly learned that the musician was driving with a suspended license, the Associated Press reported. Her Land Rover's registration ...

A US dairy farmer hoping to induce a woman he impregnated to miscarry gave her a soft drink containing a cattle hormone sometimes used to force abortions in cows, police said. William Stanley Sutton III, 25, added ProstaMate last week to a soft drink he gave to 21-year-old Lauren Ashley Tucker, according to documents in the US state of Maryland charging Sutton with reckless endangerment, assault and poisoning. Tucker felt sick to her stomach and vomited after drinking the soft drink that "tasted nasty and burnt her throat," according to court records. She went to the hospital on August 9, and the hospital reported a possible poisoning to police. Tucker was treated and released and is now 15 weeks pregnant . ProstaMate is a hormone given to cows in the breeding process to bring all cows in heat at the same time. It can also be used to stimulate an early term abortion in a heifer that gets pregnant too young or a cow that mates with an undesired bull. Tucker told author...

Being pregnant can be the most exciting time of your life, but it can be the most stressful also. You are at the mercy of out of control hormones and you worry about the pregnancy, the childbirth, the health of your baby and everything else that comes your way. When you are pregnant you need to take good care of yourself and your unborn baby. This includes trying to reduce the stress in your life. But how do you reduce stress? This article will give you a few good tips on reducing stress while you are pregnant. The first thing you should do is to take a long look at your life. How many activities are you involved in? How many hours a week do you work? What are you expected to do around the home? If you have a full schedule that has you running every minute of the day, you need to slow down a little. Figure out which activities you can drop and try to cut back at work if possible. Learn to say no. Stop feeling like you have to say yes to every request that someone makes of you. The most...

Dr Jacqueline E Campbell MANY pregnant women become concerned about what they should and shouldn't be eating. That is understandable as a healthy diet contributes to a successful pregnancy by reducing complications and promoting adequate foetal growth and development. Nutrition is thus an essential component of prenatal care. A well-balanced diet contributes to normal birth weight for the baby, improved foetal brain development, decreased chance of pregnancy complications such as morning sickness, fatigue, mood swings, anaemia and pre-eclampsia (life-threatening condition that often occurs in the 3rd trimester - symptoms include high blood pressure, protein in urine, edema, blurred vision, pain around the liver) and a speedy recovery after delivery. Weight gainWeight gain is desirable for all women since it is essential for normal foetal growth. It is important not to restrict calories during this time. Generally a pregnant woman should aim to keep her weight gain around 20 to 30 p...

She is pregnant. A middle manager and mother of a two-year-old in her early 30s, she was scared at first to tell her boss, because she was afraid it would affect the promotion she's due. Worse, she has applied for a job one level over, but somehow completely has no confidence she will get it. Last week this woman, who we'll call Jasmine, told all woman that she has applied and is still waiting. "This is a demanding year at work. I fear I won't be considered because of the pregnancy. It may be all in my head but I think there is a real risk." She said she saw another job advertised and called them up."I spoke frankly with them, and the human resources person advised me that it was best for me to focus on my pregnancy at this time. It was kind advice, not malicious at all. I was speaking with him in terms of how enlightened we were in Jamaica and whether we would be ready to accept this as a norm - that is hiring someone who was pregnant. He pointed out that if...