Parenting and family news, picked by parents

Births outside normal weekday working hours and at weekends are riskier, say experts More...

The heartbeats of a mother and her unborn foetus synchronise when she breathes rhythmically, researchers in Aberdeen say. More...

NICE have issued new guidelines on women's weight during and after pregnancy. More...

Parents-to-be should not be allowed to record ultrasounds on mobile phones or video cameras, say those who carry out the pregnancy scans. More...

A giant chalk man carved into a west country hillside is living up to its legendary status as a figure of fertility by producing a baby boom in the surrounding area. More...

Institute of Social and Economic Research cross-referenced five personality traits with the ages of 16,000 mothers More...

One experience, amusing though it is (now) that highlights just another of the pregnancy indignities we aren't warned about! More...

One writer has looked at some popular old wives' tales on how to increase fertility, but the big question is - do they actually work? More...

The right of women to choose whether they have home births is being questioned by a leading medical journal. More...

Blog post in reaction to the media's vision of women who have had c-sections as being 'too posh to push'. More...

Pregnant women's care is being undermined by GPs' lack of involvement in England, experts say. More...

The advertising watchdog said the advert for advice on abortion services had broken no rules, despite 5,000 complaints. By Mark Sweney More...

Women who experience pregnancy complications or a difficult labour have a higher risk of experiencing post-natal depression, scientists will say today. More...

Women who put on too much weight during pregnancy are risking the lifelong health of their baby, research has shown. More...

Pregnancy was good for my looks: my hair got thicker, my skin cleared up and I slimmed down with all my weight shifting onto my bump. Even those first few post-pregnancy months weren’t too bad. I may have had dark circles under my eyes and baby sick on my shoulder but the hair, and the skin, they made up for it. More...

Women who have had a miscarriage do not need to wait before trying to get pregnant again, say doctors. More...

Has your teenage daughter told you she is pregnant? Or is it your teenage son who’s expecting? We talk about ways to respond and support them, with tips on what the next steps might be. Helping you and your teen to consider the options, we also look at legal rights, religious concerns, and how to help them stay safe in the future. More...

Women who have had a miscarriage do not need to wait before trying to get pregnant again, say doctors. More...

Efforts under way to better understand the impact of brain injuries in newborns More...

Experts have found eight-year-olds who were exposed to liquorice in the womb had levels of the hormone cortisol up to a third higher than those whose mothers never ate it. More...

I read a article in the Guardian yesterday which was about a survey claims over home birth being more of a risk then a hospital birth. Apparently a home birth carries three times the risk that the baby will die then if you were to have the baby in hospital. I do not believe this to be true , I believe that both have just the same risks. Which the Royal College of Midwives has confirmed. More...

Pregnant women should avoid 'diet' soft drinks that have been artificially sweetened, experts have said, after a study linked them with premature birth. More...

Pregnancy may be the first time in your lives that you allow yourself to eat as you please. If you have turned to food to meet emotional needs in the past or if you just want to use your pregnancy as an opportunity to have a better relationship with More...

Further to Me, The Man & The Baby's recent submission re the media's coverage of assumed risks in home births, I thought this might be of interest. Being seven months pregnant with my first child and planning a "left luxury"* home birth, sensible, well balanced (and yes, being pregnant I also found it tear-jerking) articles such as this are hugely encouraging. *Sali Hughes, author of the Guardian piece cites one Twitter user's opinion of home births More...

Back in April and May, as a newly pregnant prospective first-time mother, I was offered the screening tests for Down's syndrome. All was well. Due to an NHS error, however, further tests were carried out, this time with less reassuring results, and my husband and I were suddenly confronted with choices we felt too ill-informed to consider... More...

'Giving up the prospect of your own children is like a bereavement.' Caroline Van Den Heever tells YOU how surrogacy made her parenting dreams come true. More...

Expectant mums are usually vulnerable, hormonal ... and very hungry. So the last thing they need, says ex-GMTV weather girl Andrea McLean s to be told off by the Government for being 'obese'. More...

More than 700 children are born with genetic diseases every year as a result of cousin marriages, an investigation has found. More...

Significant shift in policy aims to stop more childless couples seeking treatment abroad More...

Up to 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage – and yet most women never reveal they have had one. We find out how couples have tried to deal with their grief and meet a pioneering doctor who is looking… More...

Having received "concerning" results following a triple blood test in the 15th week of pregnancy, we returned to the hospital for an anomaly scan. With our fingers crossed, we watched as the doctor measured various limbs and features and attempted to reassure us everything would be "okay"... More...

A small dose of aspirin in pregnancy can help prevent high blood pressure complications, expert guidance says. More...

Having an epidural during labour may protect key pelvic muscles and therefore reduce the risk of incontinence in later life, a study of 400 women has found. More...

She tearfully told her lifeless son - born at 27 weeks weighing 2lb - how much she loved him and cuddled him tightly, not wanting to let him go. More...

What a tawdry transaction it would be - for wannabe parents to fork out a fortune for donor services, insisting on a blue- eyed girl or athletic boy or a donor with a PhD. More...

Up to 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage – and yet most women never reveal they have had one. We find out how couples have tried to deal with their grief and meet a pioneering doctor who is looking… More...

One thing no one ever told me about breastfeeding was how messy it would be. I assumed my baby and I would sit there serenely. He would happily and discreetly More...

When the Prime Minister’s wife gave birth to a healthy daughter in Cornwall last week, I felt a special sense of happiness and relief. More...

Ob-gyn group says action will prevent infections and not harm newborns More...

In full bloom for birth: Miranda Kerr shows how it’s done More...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women with congenital heart disease need to be cautious about pregnancy and birth control choices because some options can increase heart risks, but many are unaware of the More...

Antenatal clinics should be set up in schools to reduce the risks to teenage mothers, an independent health watchdog says. More...

Leader of Britain's midwives disputes survey's claims that home birth is riskier than hospital delivery More...

Study Links Fluoride to Pre-term Birth and Anemia in Pregnancy. More...

Women are having fewer children and later than planned, forcing the average age of motherhood to a record high. More...

British scientists say they are closer to knowing why older women trying to fall pregnant are more likely to produce abnormal eggs. More...

Scientists claim have discovered that a combination of the right food and the timing of sex are the key to the nursery being painted pink rather than blue. More...

Expectant couples are holding celebrations at which they reveal the sex of their baby. Yuk! says Leo Hickman More...

After all, we had to keep warm on those chilly nights somehow! And this month, according to reports, midwives are expecting an especially large number of babies to be born. More...

Inspired by Mumra’s rather *ahem* out there idea and my own thoughts in the past on surrogacy she inspired me to write this. When I was pregnant with preschooler I loved it, I bloomed, I felt the healthiest I had ever felt, I loved feeling him kick and watching my bump grow and my body change. I remember at the time thinking what it must be like for those women who are never able to experience pregnancy for any number of reasons, out of choice or not. More...

It’s a wonder I ever had any kids. Actually, scratch that. It’s a wonder I had more than one child. In the beginning we were at it like the proverbial rabbits so it’s no wonder that I got caught after missing one pill.... More...

A new technique for preserving sperm could offer men with low sperm counts, cancer, or viruses such as HIV the hope of fathering healthy children. More...

Sometime ceasarean sections are necessary and life saving. And sometimes they are simply ludicrous. It is difficult to know when they are really needed when there is so much money to be made from them More...

The idea that pregnancy becomes dangerous after 42 weeks is out of date, says Viv Groskop, whose own third baby was nearly three weeks late More...

TimesOnline has just published an article on the NEW swine flu vaccine - and recommends that pregnant women ask for this in addition to last year's if they had it. More...

Women who barely drink at all could be turned down if their partners are deemed to be exceeding recommended alcohol limits. More...

Drinking one or two units of alcohol a week during pregnancy does not raise the risk of developmental problems in the child, suggests research. More...

The birth of your baby should be the happiest time of your life, but for Emma Portogallo the birth of her son Xavier was the 'worst nightmare imaginable'. More...

The trials and tribulations of pregnancy. (33wk+) More...

Produced by a group of mothers who between them have more than 20 children, this is a great (in our opinion!) list as to what you need with you at birth-time. Packing your hospital bag will be made much easier with this useful checklist. More...

1 in 4 pregnacies end in m/c More...

With no major advances in safer childbirth for 50 years, doctors are calling for more properly funded research. By Carol Davis More...

I’ve written about my sons birth a few times, mainly around his birthday etc but as many women will know who have suffered with traumatic births it doesn’t take allot for the memories to come up again. GhostWriterMummy has posted about hers and was enquiring on BMB as to anyone else who had suffered a traumatic birth, and as someone said on her FB wall when someone mentions it it all comes spilling out again. More...

Health workers should follow WHO guidelines More...

Nine out of ten fathers-to-be are present when the child is born, and nearly as many also come to scan appointments, says a survey. More...

The supermodel tells of the terrifying - yet common - complication that struck after her first baby was born ... and why she is fighting to save the thousands of women it kills every year. More...

As parents tend to pass on genes that determine looks, this could result in handsome men becoming rather thin on the ground. More...

Researchers scare women into thinking home birth is not a safe option, says Royal College of Midwives More...

Complaints about scarring, incorrect fitting, device failure and other problems also made to medical regulators More...

Sam Taylor-Wood investigates the attitude to home births in the UK More...

The free calculator, which is available online, uses the answers to nine simple questions to work out the odds of fertility treatment succeeding. More...

Blog post discussing today's BBC news article reporting on the BPAS' challenging of current abortion laws. The BPAS is campaigning for the gorvernment to allow women who are under 9 weeks gestation to be able to take their second set of tablets at home, rather than in a clinic. More...

Update on the BPAS campaing to change the current abortion laws- the High Court's decision. More...

Just hours after leaving work at Croydon University Hospital, Claire Clarke-Wood found herself going into labour three weeks early at her home in Hawkhurst, Kent. More...

Health News, bringing you the latest health articles as well as health news with Health & Wellbeing in mind. More...

Professor Cathy Warwick (pictured) from the Royal College of Midwives, said such parties - where people view 3D and 4D scan pictures that have been paid for privately - raise ethical questions. More...

Imagine turning up to your six-week postnatal check, only to discover you’re pregnant again. More...

The book includes a section for gay and lesbian parents, and offers advice for raising kids with autism and ADHD. More...

Advertising watchdogs will trigger a storm of controversy by announcing the decision on Monday after years of argument, the Mail can disclose. More...

The National Childbirth Trust is dropping its "evangelical" approach to promoting breastfeeding in a bid to shake off its middle-class image. More...

Parenting articles by Tamala Edwards More...