A Week in the News - 14th June 2013

The news this week has been dominated by one story, and that is of the whistleblower and former NSA employee Edward Snowden and his admission that the US have been taking personal details from various sources through their PRISM program. The information that Snowden has revealed has wide ranging implications and has been met with anger across the Western world. Unfortunately no-one really knows the impact of the PRISM program yet, and the likelihood is we never will. Back in the UK the England cricket team are doing their best to be kicked out of the tournament they're hosting, and as it's cricket season the weather has been somewhat 'changeable'!

There's no doubt that pregnancy and babies have yet again featured in the news, and we're going to take another weekly look at what has hit the headlines.

Hypnosis, Home Births and Obesity

The Daily Mail revealed this week that Kate Middleton is considering a hypno-birth to deal with the pain of childbirth. Hypno-birthing has become increasingly popular in recent years, and maybe this is something that the Princess has considered. That being said it seems to be an article created through hearsay, so whether or not Kate is actually considering it could be a moot point! The poor spelling and grammar in the article also makes me wonder whether or not this was simply written to fill a gap on their site...

Kate might also consider a home birth, and an article on the BBC covered research in the BMJ that suggested a planned home birth was safer than planned hospital births, especially so for second-time mothers. Perhaps this will make women consider home births, they only account for 2.4% of planned births. That being said it is purely down to the mother to decide, although the stats in the article from the BBC seem to point out that all aspects of home birthing are considerably safer. I suppose the potential need for urgent medical attention could sway mothers towards the hospital though.

Laura Donnelly in the Telegraph found a slightly different angle to thethe story we covered last month revealing that obese parents have raised the chance of having a premature baby. You would think that stories such as this would encourage parents-to-be to do all they can to ensure that their baby will be healthy.

Working Mums, Kicking Babies, Simple Pleasures and Pushing

A story covered by many of the papers, including the Independent revealed that children whose parents work don't suffer at school. This will be good news for parents who worried that their job may have an impact on their kids. Whilst this debunks the myth, I'm sure it wont stop parents debating this issue. And whilst they do, if they fall pregnant again the Dad can always use a bit of technology to feel the baby kicking, what will they think of next?

The Telegraph reported this week that children prefer simple pleasures such as dens to expensive trips out. I might sound like I was an ungrateful child here, but this seems to make sense to me! Some of my favourite childhood memories come from days spent running wild in the countryside with my friends, whereas I can hardly remember trips to theme parks. You may also remember us covering Bryony Gordon's pregnancy in the same newspaper, well she has now had her child and she reminds us that a c-section isn't necessarily a disaster!

See you next week for another look at the news, don't forget to get in touch it something catches your eye, either through the site or by tweeting us @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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