A Week in the News - 12th September 2014

The news this week has seen Oscar Pistorius once again hit the headlines with the verdict on the death of Reeva Steenkamp being announced today. Whilst the verdict has taken the last couple of days to come through, Pistorius has been charged with 'culpable homicide', essentially the equivalent of a manslaughter charge in the UK. This may have come as a surprise to some people. We also heard the horrible story today of the Manchester Dogs Home suffering from an arson attack, with 60 dogs losing their lives. We move onto the world of pregnancy and babies though with news from the past two weeks.

Royal Baby, Language and Jennifer Aniston

This week the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have annouced that Kate is pregnant with their second child. After the huge news last time when the pregnancy and birth of Prince George was followed across the globe there is no doubt that the second pregnancy will also be keenly followed. WIth the Duchess also suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum once again, it is important that we all remember how serious that condition can be. We all wish Kate and William good luck over the next few months, and can't wait to hear the good news when their second child is born.

A story in the Independent last week looked at how bilingual babies can actually learn faster than other babies. A study undertaken in Singapore has shown that babies who are given exposure to more than one language could develop a higher IQ and will become bored when exposed to the same images constantly. Personally I think language is an important tool and I wish I could speak more than one fluently (despite 8 years of learning German!) and if it gives people the chance to learn other things more effectively then surely it is something we can embrace?

Jennifer Aniston has claimed that she is judged for being childless, and the article from the Guardian suggests that women who decide to not have children are seen as 'subwomen'. Do you believe this is the case? Are women who decide not to have children treated differently from those who decide to have children?

Fur, Childbirth and Photos

The Independent has reported on a study which suggests that letting children sleep on animal fur is best for baby and can help to prevent asthma. The study suggests that modern life has led to an increase in allergies as everything is 'too clean', so exposing your baby to the fur of another animal can help to prevent the cleanliness of our environment affecting our children's health in the future. Would this be something that you would be happy to do? Or do you think that a clean enviroment is better for your child?

Were you afraid of childbirth? Felicity Morse has given 9 reasons why she is afraid of childbirth including having an 'ugly' baby and breastfeeding. How were you feeling when you were in the lead up to having a child for the first time, were you afraid? Or did you feel like you had all the information you needed to have a 'calm' (if that's the right word!) experience? There is plenty of information out there which can help you to understand exactly what will happen during pregnancy and labour, including our own site Pregnancy.uk.

Finally this week a look at pictures of parents meeting their children for the first time. How did you feel when you met your child? Do you understand the emotions that are shown in some of these pictures?

See you next week!

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.

share this page with friends and family

Tweet