Even amid a pandemic and the rising popularity of home births, a new survey from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests the safest place to have a baby is in a hospital or accredited birth center.

Home births now account for more than 2% of births nationwide, but the AAP said the wide variance in conditions, on-site expertise and distance/time from a medical facility if complications arise result in a twofold to threefold increase in fetal or newborn death, which translates to an absolute risk increase of approximately 1 to 2 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Exercise During Pregnancy

The study involved mice, but the findings are intriguing: Researchers found that pregnant mice that exercised every day built up greater stores of "good" brown fat, which promotes stronger metabolism, than pregnant mice kept away from treadmills.

The benefit appeared to translate to their litters. Progeny of exercising mom mice also displayed more robust metabolisms, which might indicate a lower likelihood of obesity later in life.

It remains to be seen if the mouse findings can be replicated in humans, but you might think about breaking out the old treadmill.

Body of Knowledge

The human head contains 28 bones: eight comprising the cranium or skull, 14 making up the face and six in the middle ears (three on each side).

Get Me That, Stat!

Between 2009 and 2018, the rate of hepatitis C infections tripled among millennials, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Stories for the Waiting Room

In the 1600s, some European physicians believed that transfusing sheep's blood into manic patients would make them as docile as the proverbial lamb.

Mania of the Week

Dromomania: compulsive longing for travel.

Observation

"The operation was a complete success, but the patient died of something else." — Scottish surgeon John Chiene (1843-1923)

Medical History

This week in 1998, scientists deciphered the last of the genetic material of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis.

Self-Exam

Q: What is the minimum percentage required for a human liver to regenerate itself?

a) 10%

b) 25%

c) 50%

d) 75%

A: 25%

Last Words

"Only one man ever understood me. And he really didn't understand me." — German philosopher George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831). Who can forget his influential dualisms of mind, nature, subject and object? Some accounts have Hegel saying, "Only you have understood me ... and you got it wrong."

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Alexas_Fotos at Pixabay