HealthWatch: C-Section Obesity Risk, Baby Talk Same Around World

BOSTON (CBS) - Having a C-section puts a woman's offspring at higher risk of obesity and now researchers at the New York University School of Medicine may have a better understanding why.

They studied mice and found that the microbiomes of those born by C-section were different from those of mice born vaginally.  In fact the "naturally" born mice had bacteria in their gut associated with a leaner body type.

In addition, mice born by C-section gained more weight than the mice who passed through the birth canal.

Mothers' Baby Talk, Identical Regardless Of Language

Coochy coo.  Turns out women all over the world speak to babies in the same way.

Using computer technology, researchers at Princeton studied the timbre or voice quality while mothers spoke to their infants ages seven months to one year old.  They compared that to the mothers' timbre while speaking to other adults.

Scientists found that there was a clear change in timbre when they were speaking to their babies.  They then replicated the experiment in mothers speaking nine other languages including Russian, Hebrew, and Mandarin and the results were the same.

The scientists say they don't know if fathers do the same thing but the researchers suspect they probably do.