A Week in the News - 25th July 2014

This week the Commonwealth Games kicked off in Glasgow and we have already seen success for the Home Nations, with England topping the medals table early on. We've also seen the continuing story developing in both Ukraine, Israel and Palestine. Whilst the families of the dead in Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 now have the chance to bury their family members, there are many questions that still need to be answered, and we have also seen horrific scenes in Israel as bombing continues between both sides. Our focus switches to stories which we believe will be of interest to you this week in regards to parenting and babies!

Delaying Motherhood, Safer IVF and the Morning After Pill

A few weeks ago we had Kirsty Allsopp saying that mothers should not wait to have their children until later in life, and this week Sally Peck in the Telegraph has suggested that delaying motherhood is actually good for your children. I think we all need to agree that having children is a completely personal decision and whether you decide to have a child or 16 or 42, if you decide it is the right time for you then that is the decision that you have made. Yes someone who has a child later in life may have more time to look after them, or possibly give their child a more affluent life, but it is not always that way. Having children should be a personal choice, not influenced by what people think in the media.

This week we have also been shown that new IVF drugs are 'safer' and could possibly pave the way for more success in IVF. The naturally occuring hormone Kisspeptin has been used to stimulate women's ovaries to produce eggs. Larger studies need to take place as this round of treatment was only used on 53 patients, with 51 having eggs collected and with 12 falling pregnant. If more clinical trials are successful then hopefully this treatment will be available to more families across the UK. I'm sure many couples who have gone through IVF treatment would be very hopeful of any treatment which makes it safer and potentially more effective.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service has suggested that women should be given a supply of the morning after pill after leaving hospital with their baby. It is suggested that this will reduce the chance of couples having an unwanted pregnancy shortly after having a child. Did you see this as a concern when you left hospital after giving birth or were you aware that you were very fertile in the months following giving birth to your child? It seems like some simple education would be a far better solution in this situation rather than handing out tablets?

Three Parent Babies and Prince George

This week has seen a public review of three parent babies being widely accepted as the search for the remove of mitochondrial diseases continues. Giving the chance for the three person IVF technique could be a breakthrough for many families in Britain. But are you supportive of it? It is a very interesting debate which I am sure will continue for many years. Should there be another party involved in the creation of a child or should it simply be the offspring of two people? It is certainly a major breakthrough in science and one which will be an interesting story to keep tabs on.

A year on from the birth of Prince George new photos were released of our future King. It is a small insight into what is probably one of the most famous families in the world, have your children been fascinated by butterflies too?

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.

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