Hey, ebbody. Spent this morning compiling a list of “Freshly Added Weblogs” (glance to your right). Enjoy.*

Meantime, the indispensible Myria sent along this link to a recent CDC study (free registration required): “Variation in Homicide Risk During Infancy — United States, 1989-1998”

Some highlights Myria was kind enough to excerpt:

[…] During 1989–1998, a total of 3,312 infant homicides were reported for a rate of 8.3 per 100,000 person years.

[…] When homicide rates on the first day of life and during the remainder of infancy were compared with homicide rates during later age groups (Figure 2), the homicide rate on the first day of life was at least ten times greater than the rate during any other time of life.

[…] Among homicides during the first week of life, 89% of known perpetrators are female, usually the mother [4]. Mothers who kill their infants are more likely to be adolescents and have a history of mental

illness [2,5].

[…] Infant homicides probably are underascertained by being either labeled as unintentional injuries or attributed to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) [7].

“Sadly,” Myria notes, “it seems that an infant has a higher chance of being murdered in their first few months than at any other time in their life.”

Indeed. When my college friends started settling down and having kids of their own, I remember being struck by the the frequency with which my newly mommyfied gal pals seemed mired in strange and sudden funks — and then moments later, seemed happy as Mike Moore in a tub of cheese fries.

Strange things happen when chemicals drench the brain — even when those chemicals are “natural”…

Does this shed any light on our recent Yates’ discussion? Prolly so. In most cases, the body regulates itself; in more extreme cases, doctors are consulted, tests are taken, medication is administered, etc.

But in the most extreme cases, tragedy strikes — and reminds us that the human body is an intricate machine, and that machines sometimes break down.

*Screw Damian Penny. That Newfy bastard still hasn’t returned a single email I’ve sent him. Ditto Ken Goldstein. Though I’m a bit more inclined to excuse Kenny’s rudeness — after all, he is a technical writer. And one who lives in Jersey, no less…

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