Childbirth

Women who have a specially trained nurse at their side throughout labor appear to be just as likely to have a caesarean section as women with typical nursing care. The finding contradicts previous studies suggesting that C-section rates--which have soared in recent years to almost 25% of all U.S. births--might be lower if women were attended by nurses providing ample social and emotional support, advice and information.

California's appetite for wind, solar and geothermal electricity would gradually expand over the next 15 years under a bill passed by the Assembly on Tuesday and probably headed for the law books. The Assembly also approved sweeping legislation that would give millions of workers the right to take paid time off from work to care for sick parents or bond with new children.

Andre Agassi could not get away from Roland Garros fast enough Wednesday evening, away from the cold, the rain and the wind ... and, more important, away from Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. The long day of waiting--a 6 1/2-hour rain delay--ended with a rush. Play resumed for 13 minutes, enough for Agassi to lose two of the three games played, meaning Ferrero led their quarterfinal, 6-3, 1-0. Agassi gestured to the chair umpire, who summoned tournament referee Stefan Fransson.

Another caesarean section is the safest childbirth method for women who have already had a surgical delivery, although the risks from a vaginal delivery after caesarean are lower than previously thought, British researchers say. A study of 313,238 births in Scotland found that for women with previous caesareans, the delivery-related death rate for subsequent babies was about 11 times higher in vaginal births than in planned repeat caesareans.

Margaret J. Gamper, a pioneer of modern natural childbirth, died March 18 of heart failure at a hospice in Skokie, Ill. She was 94. The native of Janesville, Wis., ran away from home at 19 to attend nursing school in Chicago. After earning her degree, Gamper worked as a maternity surgical assistant in Chicago hospitals and had witnessed dozens of births when one case in particular caught her attention.

Myth would have it that Baby New Year crawls onto the scene today: cute, carefree and adorned with a "Happy 2002" banner. And then there's the reality of childbirth: painful, bloody and often dangerous. "World Birth Day" (9 tonight, TLC) takes an unflinching look at the latter, through the experiences of 11 women in nine countries on one July day last year.

I wasn't surprised, of course, to learn it's a former USC quarterback who holds the NFL record for most passes intercepted in one game. I was stunned, though, to learn former Trojan Jim Hardy is now convinced his 51-year-old mark of having eight passes intercepted in one game will never be broken. I know he's seen Carson Palmer play. * ON SUNDAY, Ty Detmer had seven passes picked off while playing for Detroit. I wonder, if I wrote seven bad columns in a row, would Dwyre pull me from Page 2.

When 21-year-old Diana Dowling got pregnant, she didn't know where to turn for assistance and reassurance. Her mother often was too sick to help, and the baby's father--well, what did he know about having a child? Then Dowling heard about Resource Mothers, a program at the Eastern Virginia Medical School that recruits women who have had babies to become mentors to young, inexperienced moms-to-be.

Theresa and Scott LaRue thought they had four healthy boys until their son Layne contracted Epstein-Barr virus in 1994 and died within two weeks. Trying to understand why Layne suffered such a drastic outcome from a viral infection that is normally much milder, physicians quickly discovered that two other sons--Garrett, then 3 1/2, and Blayke, 6 months--both have severely impaired immune systems. "It came out of nowhere for us," said Theresa LaRue.

Dear Cynthia: I am expecting my second child, a girl, very soon. I had a son last year, who passed away 13 days after his birth. His death was expected from his medical condition determined during my pregnancy. I know that I am having a girl, and I am so very excited. In my dream, I am giving birth; the doctor hands me my child and says: "Here is your son." Does this have anything to do with unresolved issues regarding my son?