A Week in the News - 12th July 2013

This week saw the start of the Ashes and cricket fans across the country will be waiting to see just how well England do this year. They'll be a few Australians out there as well hoping to see the urn return to the other side of the world as well! The situation in the Middle East continues to bubble, and who knows what might have happened by this time next week.

We're going to take another look at the news that took our interest in regards to pregnancy and babies this week - next week we might just be looking at reports on the royal baby. But lets have a look at the news from this week.

More IVF and Premature Babies

This week, as reported in the Independent and across various other sources - a baby boy was born thanks to a revolutionary new IVF technique. This technique has allowed scientists to fully map the genome sequence to test for defects in the IVF cycle. With this revolutionary procedure in place it should mean a more successful IVF rate, which is great news for prospective parents going through the procedure. Even better news is the talk, as covered by the BBC that IVF treatments could soon fall to a cost as low as £170. For those who have struggled to afford IVF or had various unsuccessful treatments this news can only be seen as good.

Despite the good news surrounding IVF this week, there has also been reports, in the Daily Mail that some GPs have been ignoring official advice and refusing IVF to over 40s - just to save money. This seems wrong to me, but I'm sure there is something in the Mail story that has been sensationalised, I can't believe that anyone would settle for being refused IVF treatment for such poor reasons.

Also in the Mail is the story that babies conceived in May are ten percent more likely to be born premature. Apparently this is because mothers who fall pregnant at this time are likely to suffer from illness during the winter. Whilst this may be true in some cases, and maybe a slight anomaly does exist I'd wager that this doesn't affect the vast majority of children - and I'd question that ten percent figure!

Abortion, Babies in Wedlock and Kate's Mum

There was a historic change in Ireland this week as abortion has been allowed in certain cases. Whilst the rules are still not as free as those in the UK this means that women will have the chance to abort a baby if the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy are accepted. For women who have fallen pregnant after rape or similar events this will come as good news. Ireland is still dominated by Catholic doctrine so this is a dramatic change, although some would argue that it's too little, too late. Something that would not be welcomed by some religions is certainly the story reported in the Telegraph this week that by 2016 most children will be born outside of wedlock. With changing attitudes this is not a surprise, but the government do want to change these figures. When you also consider that young people are struggling to save for a house, and to simply live, sticking a wedding on top of having a child might not be at the top of their priorities.

Finally the news that you've all been waiting for if Kate gets caught away from the hospital, then Carole can step in! Thanks to the Mail for letting us know, but I'd imagine that the Royals are looking after Kate with kid gloves at the moment, and at the first sign of labour she is going to get all the attention from the appropriate medical people she needs.

We'll see you again next week, hopefully with news of the royal baby! If you spot anything interesting let us know via the site or through our Twitter account @MumNetwork.

About the author

James Brighton

Since 2011 James has been in charge of working with and organising all our writers to put together Pregnancy.co.uk and Babies.co.uk. Anna, his girlfriend, knows he will be an encyclopaedia of knowledge if she ever falls pregnant!

Click here to read my full biography.

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