A Week in the News - 5th July 2013

The beginning of this week saw the end of the Glastonbury festival for another year, and the semblance of what some might argue as summery weather! In fact if reports are to be believed this weekend will be the hottest of the year so far. In other news Egypt has seen yet another uprising against the government as the situation in the Middle East continues to develop.

What we're here for though is the news that broke in the world of pregnancy and babies this week, so without further ado here's our look at the headlines.

Baby Names, PND and the Economy

The end of this week has seen one thing dominate the social networks, and that is Katie Hopkins outburst on This Morning. We've already blogged about it here but the Independent have also picked up on her determined effort to seem controversial. Parents are usually slightly worried over what others might think of their baby name, even if it's only a passing thought, but Katie seems to think that every parent makes a judgement entirely based on the name you choose - I'm sure she couldn't be more wrong. That certainly wont work for Kate Middleton if she chooses to follow the advice of Louisa Peacock in The Telegraph who thinks the royal baby name should be a wild choice, Ms. Hopkins would not be pleased! She might be even less please with competitive parents stealing baby names left right and centre! Although we're pretty sure Kate will go for a safe bet.

Also in the Telegraph this week was a report on the new test for post-natal depression, one which can judge whether or not you may be susceptible. I assumed this would be welcomed by mothers, but it wont be according to Beverley Turner, she even goes as far to see as it is disturbingly Orwellian. As a male I would assume that mothers would want to know if they were at risk of PND, but Turner has a well thought out argument which may turn mums-to-be away from having the test in the future.

Apparently the baby boom will help us out of this economic mess, and the argument seems to make sense. Hopefully the goverment will grasp the potential of all of our youngsters, whether they be babies or teenagers and give everyone a chance to excel. The stats say otherwise though as the youth continue to face mass unemployment.

Autism, IVF and the Royal Baby

The Daily Mail reported this week that men with 'poor quality' sperm may find that having a baby through IVF could lead to a baby with low IQ or autism. Whilst the findings state that there is a four-fold increase in the chance that a baby would be born with severe autism, I'm sure there are plenty of families who are very happy with having a child through IVF whether the father had 'poor sperm' or not. Sticking with IVF and the Independent featured as story from a medical ethicist claiming that any ban on sex selection through IVF would not be justified. Personally I have my concerns over this step, why should we be able to alter nature? Apparently Professor Stephen Wilkinson could find no reason for an ethical debate here, but there has to be some worry that everyone might choose a boy - or vice versa - certainly this is very dodgy ground.

Finally the royal baby will soon be with us, and whilst we got all excited over the Finnish baby boxes a few weeks ago it has been revealed that the princess herself has been given one - hopefully she enjoys it, they seem like such a great idea! And if you're lucky enough to give birth on the same day as Kate, you will be gifted with a special coin to commemorate the day, a nice touch.

We'll be back next week with another round up, but if you spot anything in the meantime get in touch with us through the site or via 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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