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John Archibald
Local Government With Kyle Whitmire
Conservation: The Behavior Gap
Magic City Marketplace
The Price of Poverty
Price of Poverty: Time Banks
Price of Poverty: Involuntary Flextime
Price of Poverty: Buy-a-Meter
Birmingham-Southern's Struggles: a Student Perspective
Price of Poverty: Food Deserts
Remembering Cecil Whitmire
Occupational Tax Settlement
Child Care Subsidies at Risk
Robert Bentley
Vestavia Hills: Library in the Forest
Hotel Tax Dispute
Oil Spill and Hair Sausages
Anne Frank and Me
Jefferson County Commission Runoff
On the Line: Ask the Mayor
Midwives in Alabama
The Future of the Jefferson County Commission
New EPA Sulfur Dioxide Rules
Alabama Gubernatorial Primary 2010
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Seafood Safety
Alabama and the Oil Spill: One Family's Story
Bike to Work
The ASO plays Carnegie Hall
Alabama and the Oil Spill: Hurricane Season
News Features Archive

| Undated -- Nothing says happy, healthy baby like chubby cheeks and legs. But each year, one in 13 babies born in the U-S is considered to be low birth weight – which means they weigh less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces. And birth weight is about more than just esthetics or maternal pride … babies who are low-weight face health problems as newborns and an increased risk of long-term disability – such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy and breathing problems.

Over the years, researchers have discovered a direct link between maternal physical health and a baby’s birth weight. Now, a new study shows mental health may be an important factor as well.

In our continuing series, “Making Sense of Mental Health”, WBHM’s Rosemary Pennington speaks with the author of that study. University of New Hampshire professor Dr. Karen Conway says her work shows maternal depression leads to smaller babies. She also says there's a clear socio-economic and racial gap when it comes to who will develop depression while pregnant. Poor women are much more likely to develop maternal depression than their more affluent counterparts; African Americans more likely than whites.

| Making Sense of Mental Health