A Week in the News - 18th October 2013

The news this week has been dominated by price rises in the energy sector and then a "sexism" row in parliament, not to mention Spacemonkeygate. Whilst most of us would indeed give our seat up for a pregnant lady it seems that Jo Swinson was misquoted and didn't refer to the suggestion that a seat should be offered as sexist. And we wont get embroiled in the saga surrounding the England team! But we'll move out focus to news about pregnancy and babies this week and see what the papers had to offer.

Breastfeeding and Birth Experience

Breastfeeding is a constant subject of debate, and throws up questions for various different reasons. In some way it's a very dangerous debate to get in to as passions on both side of whatever debate you have can be strong. The Guardian published a piece this week on how breastfeeding won't seem normal until more pictures are available, an interesting theory. Anyone who has tried to post a breastfeeding picture to facebook will probably have experienced their photo being removed, is this right? Surely something which is undeniably natural shouldn't be hidden away? Many readers sent in photos which you can see via the article.

The Telegraph and Guardian both decided to focus on the findings of a Mumsnet survey revealing that half of UK women are not getting the birth they want. The survey focused on 1,100 women and revealed some stark findings. Including how 24% of women surveyed didn't consent to some very intimate procedures. The article in the Telegraph calls for changes to be made, and there is hope that the findings will push through some kind of strategy. The article in the Guardian demands a change in attitudes, much as the survey does, away from simply being happy that the baby is born alive (which is of course extremely important!) to ensuring that the birth experience is satisfying to both baby and mother. After all those first few hours are extremely important.

Emotions, Regions and IVF

According to research revealed in the Daily Mail it's to stop telling white lies to your child. The research by Concordia University in Canada shows that babies can understand the emotions that should match an even taking place, so can't be fooled into feeling positive when you are trying to put a brave face on. Although some of the wording in the article should be reconsidered, I'm sure the researchers didn't "recruit 92 infants"...

Whilst these government figures aren't strictly just to do with pregnancy or babies, as reported in the Independent they certainly are interesting. The figures show that a baby born in the South-East of England is likely to live two to three years longer than a baby born in the North-West. Obviously these figures may not come as a shock to some, but that is quite a disparity considering we are supposed to live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. That being said the baby in the North will be able to live more cheaply, the North/South divide is a debate that will rage for years to come, and whilst HS2 is apparently going to solve the problem - will it really change that much?

Finally this week we look at a report in the Mail that suggests that 2.5m babies have been born via IVF since 2007, out of a total of 5m births. This figure is for births worldwide, but it clearly shows that IVF must be more accessible in today's society. For those who have to use IVF to conceive then this must be good news, and with the technical advances that are being made hopefully more families will be able to introduce a child into their lives in years to come.

See you next week with another round up of the news!

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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