Jamie Lynn Hits the Books
Pregnant Zoey 101 star Jamie Lynn Spears was photographed leaving a GED preparation center in Hammond, Louisiana, with her mother recently. The 16-year-old baby sister of Britney Spears was carrying a GED study book, which is used by those preparing to take a high-school equivalency exam.

Pregnancy-Related Deaths Rise; Reasons Unclear
The safest form of childbirth for first-time mothers is via an uncomplicated vaginal delivery, according to Catherine Spong, chief of the pregnancy and perinatology branch of the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development. Yet many first-time mothers are requesting C-sections, even when there's no reason for them. The rise in C-sections coincides with an increase in pregnancy-related deaths, but researchers are divided on whether there's a connection. Leading gynecologists are urging trials for first-time mothers in order to determine whether C-sections indeed cause a higher risk to pregnant women.

Pregnant High-School Students Seek Maternity Leave
The Denver Post reports that expectant teen moms attending a Denver high school are asking for at least four weeks of maternity leave. Two counselors approached the school board recently, saying that it's unfair for the young moms to be penalized for being absent when they're healing and bonding with their new babies. The current policy at East High School requires new mothers to return to school the day after they’re discharged from the hospital; if they don't, they face being charged with unexcused absences.

Study: Autism Not Caused by Mercury in Vaccines
According to researchers from the California Department of Public Health, autism rates in children continued to climb between 1995 and 2007, even after the mercury-rich vaccine preservative thimerosal was removed from routine childhood shots. Doctors say that the 12-year study should reassure parents that the disorder is not caused by vaccinations. In related news, researchers from Johns Hopkins University report in Writing in Pediatrics that parents with children on the autism spectrum find that their kids' symptoms decline when they have a fever. 

Golden Globes Cancelled
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was unable to reach an agreement with the Writers Guild of America, forcing the lively televised Golden Globes ceremony to be officially cancelled yesterday. The winners will be announced at a press conference on Sunday.