Pregnancy

SALT LAKE CITY — Every state has so much mercury in its water that it’s dangerous to eat many of the fish caught in its lakes and streams — and Utah’s Great Salt Lake is no exception.

There are no fish in the lake, but mercury contamination travels through sediment and microscopic organisms into brine flies and brine shrimp. Ducks that live on the lake and eat those shrimp and flies end up being dangerous to eat.

All this and more was discussed Wednesday at this year’s Great Salt Lake Issues Forum, held every two years by Friends of Great Salt Lake, a nonprofit advocacy agency.

Signs of early labor -- before the 37th week of pregnancy -- may be more subtle than dramatic, doctors say. "It's not necessarily even painful," says Dr. James Marquardt, an obstetrician/gynecologist in Midlothian, Va.

Some tips:

Be aware of contractions. They can feel as if like your abdomen is tightening like a fist every 10 minutes or less, rather than anything sharp or painful.

Women often are eager to shed extra weight after pregnancy, but the first workouts should be gentle and follow medical advice, doctors say.

"It's important that the focus of the first two weeks be taking care of the new baby and getting sufficient rest," says Dr. Jeffrey Henke, an obstetrician/gynecologist in Newport News, Va.

Some tips:

OGDEN -- Expectant mothers are welcome to attend a baby care class in Spanish.

The class will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today in the education department of McKay-Dee Hospital, 4401 Harrison Blvd.

WASHINGTON — Kara Kennedy became teary-eyed when she accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of her ailing father at a 2009 White House ceremony, but she also managed to smile as Sen. Ted Kennedy’s life was honored. After the senator died two weeks later following a battle with brain cancer, his only daughter read a psalm at his funeral Mass in Boston. It was about peace and justice and caring for poor children.

WASHINGTON -- An independent panel of doctors and health experts Tuesday recommended that health plans cover contraceptives for women without co-pays, setting the stage for another debate over the effect of the healthcare overhaul President Barack Obama signed last year.

News item: Women deployed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are emerging as a group especially vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder, researchers reported this week at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

The official policy of the U.S. military is that women do not serve in combat.