Gizmodo: pregnant

Kickbee: Now the World Can Know What Your Fetus is Up To

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST

Corey Menscher, in a fit of fatherly devotion, constructed a device that notifies him when his unborn baby kicks inside the womb. Even better, he's training his kid to post on Twitter right from conception.

The Kickbee is a wearable device made of elastic and a whole mess of sensors and electronics. Piezo sensors detect the baby's movement and transmit electrical charges to an Arduino Mini microcontroller, which in turn transmits the data to a Java application via Bluetooth. This Java app deciphers the meaning of the signals, and posts on Twitter when it determines the baby has kicked.

The actual Twitter posts are somewhere between adorable and hilarious, and I think the sensors might be a little too sensitive:

"Wow I'm being very active! I kicked Mommy 84 times at 03:44AM on Thu, Dec 11!"
12:46 AM Dec 11th from web.

Kudos to Corey for the project! [MAKE]

Bun-In-The-Oven Scale Shows How Pregnant She Really Is

Andi Wang — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:54:13 EDT

As if her expanding belly—among two other bigger, more fantastic body parts—isn't proof enough to show you how pregnant your baby mama is, the Bun-In-The-Oven Scale will remind your woman of her pregnancy journey, via expanding waistline images, every time she has gained another 20 pounds—that's one ginormous baby! Oh, and did we mention that when you buy this $95 scale, you also get a new bed? Yes, we're talking about that dingy old couch in the living room with that really uncomfortable spring sticking out. [Uncommon Goods via Nerd Approved]

Cellphone Use While Pregnant Causes Kids To Go Haywire, Study Says

Elaine Chow — Sun, 18 May 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Pregnant women should probably add cellphones to the list of things they need to avoid, along with alcohol, sushi and cat poo. A giant study that surveyed over 13,000 children found that women who used mobile phones when pregnant were more likely to give birth to kids with behavioral problems.

The study, conducted by UCLA and Aarhus University in Denmark, found that using cell phones just two or three times a day would raise the risk of their babies developing hyperactivity and emotional disorders by the time they enter Kindergarten.

The scientists responsible for the study say that the results were "unexpected," and that they haven't discovered what biological mechanisms causes the problems. But the results stayed the same even when they accounted for other possible causes—such as smoking, family psychiatric history or socio-economic status.

But before everyone freaks out and buys a MummyWrap, the scientists stress that the results "should be interpreted with caution" and affirmed by other studies. In the meantime, maybe tell Mommy-to-be to limit her cellphone use a little bit, just in case. [The Independent via Textually]

Keep Your Unborn Baby Radiation Free With MummyWraps

blongo3 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:44:56 EDT

The MummyWrap is a stretchy shirt designed for pregnant moms to protect their unborn babies from electromagnetic radiation (EMR). It works by utilizing a special fabric called Swiss Shield that blocks out the EMR or "electro-smog," as they call it. Now all of the gadgety moms out there can keep on using their cellphones and Wi-Fi without fear. Of course the MummyWrap will also greatly reduce the chances that their kid will retain any kind of radiation-based superhero abilities as well. [Textually.org]