A Week in the News - 6th September 2013

We're back with another look at the news that hit the headlines in the world of pregnancy and babies this week. Whilst we've been away over the summer there have been many big stories around the world, including the continuing situation in Syria. Whilst there have been some terrible events, we can all be happy in experiencing one of the hottest summers in recent memory - and whilst the weather hasn't been too great today we've been very lucky! Needless to say it's time to focus on the stories that we've found this week, and there are some very interesting ones.

Maternity Leave and Social Media

An interesting report in the Telegraph looked at how women wanting to return to work after maternity leave are being forced out of their jobs. As many as 50,000 women can't return to their jobs after leaving to have a baby, with many being forced to take a lower paid role, or not being given the option to work part time. In fact it is argued that many are effectively constructively dismissed from their roles, all because they have had a child. Clearly something is not right here, although many mothers will find their maternity leave and return to work an acceptable solution, others are being treated incorrectly. But even the bosses are happy to admit that maternity leave is a nightmare for employers. Josephine Fairley of Green and Black's is happy to admit that maternity leave causes big problems for small companies, and whilst this is probably the case for small employers - it does beg questions of larger companies.

Remaining with the Telegraph, did you know that a new born baby appears on social media on average within 57.9 minutes of being born. Whilst this shows us the power that social media has nowadays, it's also interesting to see that the lives of our youngest members of society will be kicking off with facebook from day one. It'll be interesting to see how commonplace something like registering your child a facebook profile, or twitter account, will be in the next few years. Unfortunately I can see it becoming rather popular, although some will probably think it's great!

Oversharing, Swaddling and Milk

Whilst we're on the social media theme, are you guilty of oversharing? A recent book has been published revealing the extent some parents go to with sharing the travails of their child. You'd think that parents would want to keep at least some aspects of their parenting private, but according to the book STFU Parents, a whole manner of things are shared across social media. Whilst I'm sure the majority of you would never share the contents of your baby's nappy with all your facebook friends, apparently it has been done!

The Daily Mail ran an article on swaddling after the photo of Prince George being swaddled and held by his mother. They premised that swaddling could raise the risk of cot death, but it is currently an extremely popular thing to do amongst mothers of new born babies. Although reading the article, the concern seems to be more to do with joint problems. I think we can mark this one down as a normal Daily Mail exaggeration.

And finally, a study has shown that drinking a glass of milk during pregnancy can make your children taller. How this has been proven the article didn't really seem to say, but I'm sure there is no harm in adding a bit more calcium to your diet.

We'll be back next week with another look at the news, and in the meantime if you spot something interesting let us know by contacting us on the site or via @MumNetwork. See you soon!

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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