Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex? by Mark Leyner Page B

immune to toxoplasmosis. The infection caused by the parasite is minor in healthy individuals, but the risk lies in the fact that this infection could be passed on to your baby.
    An estimated four hundred to four thousand cases of congenital toxoplasmosis occur in the United States each year. Congenital toxoplasmosis can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, or death shortly after birth. Congenital toxoplasmosis can also affect your baby’s brain, causing mental retardation, seizures, blindness, and death.
    Don’t fear: most cases of congenital toxoplasmosis can be prevented by educating women of childbearing age and pregnant women to avoid eating raw or undercooked meat, and wear gloves while gardening and, if possible, have someone else change the kitty litter. (If you’re pregnant and you have to clean the cat’s commode, try to wear gloves and be sure to wash carefully.)
    CAN SQUIRTING BREAST MILK IN A BABY’S EYE HELP A CLOGGED TEAR DUCT?
    This question came from Billy’s sister, who gained nationwide notoriety during an embarrassing moment on
The Today Show,
when Matt Lauer revealed that she referred to her brother as “Dummy Doctor.” So how does she expect Dummy Doctor to be able to answer obscure questions like this one? She should know that there is no class in medical school on the ocular applications of breast milk.
    We
were
able to find some references to the therapeutic uses of breast milk. Human breast milk contains various antimicrobial compounds. Some of these compounds have been shown to fight off bacteria such as
Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis,
and
Staphylococcus epidermidis.
    If your baby has a clogged tear duct, the first step is to see your pediatrician. The doctor will probably teach you to gently wipe the yellow discharge out of your baby’s eyes and to massage the tear ducts. You also can apply breast milk if you are breast-feeding. All you need to do is express a couple drops of your milk onto the tip of a clean finger and gently place them in the corner of the draining eye.
    CAN SLEEPING ON YOUR BACK HURT THE BABY?
    When a pregnant woman arrives at the hospital in labor, we tell her to lie on her left side rather than lying flat on her back. The rationale behind this is that on your back, the baby can cause compression of the vena cava, a major blood vessel that passes under the uterus. During labor, a contraction itself can reduce blood flow to the baby and that compression on this vessel can exacerbate this decrease in blood flow.
    A healthy baby can tolerate this without any difficulty, especially if you are not in labor. So don’t worry if you sleep on your back. Get rest while you still have a chance.
    WHY SHOULDN’T PREGNANT WOMEN DYE THEIR HAIR?
    There are several studies that look at the relationship between maternal hair dyes and childhood diseases, including childhood brain tumors. Don’t expect to find any information that praises the health benefits of hair dyeing, but you won’t find any evidence that it is particularly dangerous either.
    Even though there are no studies linking hair dyes to any prenatal toxicity, many conservative doctors tell their patients to pass on going platinum until after the baby is born. The truth is that it is probably fine to get some highlights and an occasional color rinse, but you probably shouldn’t soak your head in a vat of dye nightly—plus, your hair would fall out.
    WILL PLAYING MUSIC TO YOUR BABY MAKE IT CALMER, SMARTER, AND HEALTHIER?
    We had to send Leyner—that polyglot punk—to the Bulgarian literature on this one. In a 2004 edition of
Akusherstvo i Ginekologiia
he came across an article about the “Effect of Music on Fetal Behavior.” This study found that music stimulation did cause changes in fetal heart rate and body movement. Other studies have tried to evaluate whether exposure to music in utero could lead to fetal learning and they found similar responses.
    Theoretically, exposure to music could lead to learning, but