A Week in the News - 7th March 2014

Well it looks like the worst of the weather is definitely past us as the country has been balming in positively tropical temperatures - well for early March anyway! With the problems continuing in Ukraine it has to be said that the attention of the world has once again been on Russia, this time for all the wrong reasons after the success of the Sochi Olympic games. As the Paralympic's begin today we can only hope that once again Russia is in the news for the right reasons, not for all the wrong ones. Let's have a look at the news that we thought might interest you this week though, and hopefully it will be slightly more heartwarming than the news that has been coming out of Ukraine in the last week.

ASDA Babies, Childcare Costs, Womb Transplants

Thanks to the budget IVF treatment being offered by ASDA a couple have managed to have their first child. With prices around £800 lower than the IVF offered by private clinics, it is interesting to see that couples can now turn to a supermarket for the possibility of having children! With this possiblity meaning that IVF outside the NHS has opened up to a lot more couples, we could be seeing many more 'ASDA babies' in the future - unsurprisingly similar schemes are also offered by Superdrug and Boots although it has to be said they are more expensive. Some people may be put off by the fact that it is ASDA offering this treatment, but if it enables couples to have the child they have always wanted, isn't it a good thing? Would you have an ASDA baby?

If you are concerned about spiralling childcare costs then it is not a surprise, if you have more than two children in childcare then it is likely that you may be spending up to £5000 a year more on childcare than your mortgage - a ridiculous situation to be in. For parents with two children in full time care it is likely that parents are paying around £12,000 a year, and those in part time care are likely to cost around £7,600. With average yearly mortgage payments being around £6000 you can see how families are struggling to juggle all of these costs together. It has to be a major concern for our childcare system that costs are rising so far, and are alienating families - are you concerned by the rising costs?

A report in the Guardian has shown that women in Sweden who had a womb transplant have now also gone through an IVF cycle - hopefully this is more good news for those who were either born without a womb or had it removed due to cancer. If medicine can develop to enable women to have another opportunity to have children then this is amazing news.

Toys, Premature Babies and Boredom?

The BBC has suggested that premature babies may be disadvantaged for the rest of their life. Researchers have discovered that misunderstanding, or simply not understanding, the needs of premature babies may affect them throughout their life - through schooling and into adult life. For example, a premature baby born in August would go to school a year earlier than if they had been full term - a concern which has not ever been addressed by the school system. They could also be at risk of being emotionally immature, or being lonely and being bullied. It is important that we ensure that premature babies are looked after properly, both by their parents and by what is being offered by the state. As a parent of a premature baby do you think that enough has been done by outside influences to help them?

Perhaps this is something that would go down as common sense, but a report in the Daily Mail has shown that cheap toys, like buckets, might be the best toys for your children as they keep them more active both physically and mentally. Now I'm not surprised by this, everyone knows that a box or a den created by a couple of chairs and a tablecloth can be some of the best moments in childhood. It doesn't take the Mail to show us that this might be a good way to get your children thinking, but perhaps the fact that such a story exists shows that in the age of the iPad some of us have forgotten to enjoy the simple things!

Do you find motherhood boring>? One mother in the Telegraph does - would you agree with this?

We'll see you next week, don't forget to follow @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.

share this page with friends and family

Tweet