We have seen the future and it is not good:
Caroline Williams, 23 week pregnant, was ordered out of a Sussex pub after bar staff noticed she had drunk a pint of lager and her friend attempted to purchase her one more half pint. Williams said, “I was on a rare night out with some friends. I had a pint of lager and a friend offered to get me another half that was going to be my limit." Her friend was refused service and the whole group was asked to leave the pub.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says there is no evidence that a couple of units, equivalent to a pint of beer, once or twice a week will harm a baby.
Read more: Mum-to-be ordered out of pub
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Ulrika stands up for post-birth incontinence
Well, Ulrika Jonsson is back in the news with her views on being a mum and post-pregnancy weight loss. This time, however, she reveals 'the most embarrassing' and intimate of health secrets that affects many women post-birth: light adult incontinence (LAI) or postpartum urinary incontinence. As a result of having four children, as she says, it's no wonder that the muscles supporting her pelvis were weakened. Laughing, sneezing or coughing are all triggers for the leaking of a small amount of urine. Women who give birth vaginally are less likely to have urinary incontinence as opposed to women who have caesareans. In Australia, women comprise over 70% of people affected by urinary incontinence.
As most women suffer in silence, Jonsson has decided to speak out:
Urinary incontinence explained
Continence Foundation of Australia
Always Envive: Sense & Sensitivity Campaign UK
Does anyone have any thoughts? Is urinary incontinence affecting you? What did you do to strengthen your pelvic floor?
Source: Ulrika reveals her most embarassing health issue
As most women suffer in silence, Jonsson has decided to speak out:
"I can't bear the thought of women suffering alone, in silence and feeling so alienated by this condition through absolutely no fault of their own. I mean, there is nothing adult about panicking every time you laugh or sneeze and feeling that you're losing control, so it's so easy to understand the stigma.
At the time, it did make me feel self-conscious, to say the very least, although my minor leakage problems after going to the toilet were alleviated by using the right protection and were not extreme enough for me to be caught out. But I do remember wondering whether I would have to suffer the side effects of childbirth for the rest of my life.
As an independent working woman I felt a bit stupid: what, I couldn't even control my own bladder - something you normally learn to do around the age of three?"
She says the only way she got her continence problem under control was through weight loss (she put on 5 stone in her last pregnancy) and doing pelvic floor exercises religiously.
Urinary incontinence explained
Continence Foundation of Australia
Always Envive: Sense & Sensitivity Campaign UK
Does anyone have any thoughts? Is urinary incontinence affecting you? What did you do to strengthen your pelvic floor?
Source: Ulrika reveals her most embarassing health issue
Moral panic Thursday!
I love a good moral panic. As you probably have noticed, I haven't even touched on Sarah Palin and all of this teen pregnancy tomfoolery. Rather, my attention turns to freebirthing. Yet again.
According to the Daily Mail, as a result of a midwife shortage in the UK, women are being 'forced' to have 'dangerous' homebirths. The maternity system in the UK is so overcrowded, understaffed, and apparently un-hygienic, many women have opted to have their babies at home. Dame Karlene Davis, a midwife said:
'Technology and the internet has led to people thinking they can do freebirthing. If a woman has had a positive experience then people think it’s something worth trying."
Damn that technology. Putting ideas in women's heads. Lead them not into temptation! Even though the British government is unwilling to acknowledge the midwife shortage and birth rates continue to rise in the midst of a crumbling system, I highly doubt that the majority of women in the UK are freebirthing or even homebirthing, for that fact. In most of the West, homebirthing is still rare and unfortunately, women are more willing to suffer the ills of public medical systems rather than have babies at home because they are not given the proper information nor the support to make that choice if they so desire. All of this malarky and panic over freebirthing is evidence of a resounding fear that if women give birth on their own or at home with a midwife, obstetric 'expertise' will be undermined. In Australia, the government is considering giving midwives the power to prescribe medications and to deal with Medicare as a way to cope with understaffing. And why not considering births in Oz are at the highest level since 1971? Of course doctors have attacked this proposal with more 'risk' talk saying that more babies will die if midwives have a greater role in hospitals. No wonder women in Australia and beyond are sceptical of homebirth and freebirth: doctors keep telling them they will die or their babies will die. Sure there are always risks but scare tactics will not fix underfunded and understaffed maternity systems.
Sources: http://tinyurl.com/5kf22l
http://www.theage.com.au/national/doctors-attack-midwives-proposal-20080910-4dvi.html
According to the Daily Mail, as a result of a midwife shortage in the UK, women are being 'forced' to have 'dangerous' homebirths. The maternity system in the UK is so overcrowded, understaffed, and apparently un-hygienic, many women have opted to have their babies at home. Dame Karlene Davis, a midwife said:
'Technology and the internet has led to people thinking they can do freebirthing. If a woman has had a positive experience then people think it’s something worth trying."
Damn that technology. Putting ideas in women's heads. Lead them not into temptation! Even though the British government is unwilling to acknowledge the midwife shortage and birth rates continue to rise in the midst of a crumbling system, I highly doubt that the majority of women in the UK are freebirthing or even homebirthing, for that fact. In most of the West, homebirthing is still rare and unfortunately, women are more willing to suffer the ills of public medical systems rather than have babies at home because they are not given the proper information nor the support to make that choice if they so desire. All of this malarky and panic over freebirthing is evidence of a resounding fear that if women give birth on their own or at home with a midwife, obstetric 'expertise' will be undermined. In Australia, the government is considering giving midwives the power to prescribe medications and to deal with Medicare as a way to cope with understaffing. And why not considering births in Oz are at the highest level since 1971? Of course doctors have attacked this proposal with more 'risk' talk saying that more babies will die if midwives have a greater role in hospitals. No wonder women in Australia and beyond are sceptical of homebirth and freebirth: doctors keep telling them they will die or their babies will die. Sure there are always risks but scare tactics will not fix underfunded and understaffed maternity systems.
Sources: http://tinyurl.com/5kf22l
http://www.theage.com.au/national/doctors-attack-midwives-proposal-20080910-4dvi.html
Breasts are not just for babies anymore?
Brits are all up in arms because TV presenter Kate Garraway appears to be breastfeeding a calf in a promotional poster for a documentary she is promoting about cross-feeding.
'I'm on a journey to find people who believe milk has to be from the breast, people who buy it, sell it, people who give it away and people who even feed each other's babies,' said the 41-year-old.
'To many this might seem weird, but they challenge us that it's actually much weirder to give our babies cows' milk than it is to drink milk from another woman.'
Other People's Breast Milk, one in a series of female-led documentaries, will be broadcast on Channel 4 on September 9.Offensive?
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1048622/Kate-Garraway-faces-outcry-provocative-photoshoot-shows-breastfeeding-calf.html
British dads doing it tough?
A survey of 3,000 dads across the UK has produced some intriguing results:
42% of new fathers say they argue more with their partners since the birth of a child, mostly about money
70% of 'older' dads get more sleep than their partners
26 % of dads in their twenties get less sleep than their female partners
49% of fathers get up in the middle of the night to attend to their babies
53% of 'older' dads do night-time feeds
British dads in their thirties are the most 'hands on':
61% claim to regularly changing nappies
58% regularly feed the baby
56% calm their baby when he or she cries
Dads in their late forties struggle the most with parenthood:
52% feel helpless when the baby is crying
How does your partner stack up against these stats? How often does your male partner feed, change, or settle your baby? Do you think new fathers need more support?
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1044855/Round-Babies-bring-battles-bonding-relationships.html
42% of new fathers say they argue more with their partners since the birth of a child, mostly about money
70% of 'older' dads get more sleep than their partners
26 % of dads in their twenties get less sleep than their female partners
49% of fathers get up in the middle of the night to attend to their babies
53% of 'older' dads do night-time feeds
British dads in their thirties are the most 'hands on':
61% claim to regularly changing nappies
58% regularly feed the baby
56% calm their baby when he or she cries
Dads in their late forties struggle the most with parenthood:
52% feel helpless when the baby is crying
How does your partner stack up against these stats? How often does your male partner feed, change, or settle your baby? Do you think new fathers need more support?
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1044855/Round-Babies-bring-battles-bonding-relationships.html
'Older' pregnancy = caesar epidemic
An 'epidemic of middle-age pregnancy' is apparently sweeping the UK. According to a new study, 4 out of 10 caesarean births are to women over 30.
And the solution? It seems that doctors just want to blame women for having careers, an education and hanging out by themselves before getting married and having babies.
"Professor James Walker, spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said it should be a 'real worry' for society that women were less likely to have successful pregnancies as they got older. 'The prime time to have a baby is in your 20s,' he added.
Uh huh. And in this study, how do they control for factors like obesity, fear of pain during birth and elective caesars?
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1030911/Four-Caesarean-births-women-delaying-child-birth-late-30s-say-researchers.html
And the solution? It seems that doctors just want to blame women for having careers, an education and hanging out by themselves before getting married and having babies.
"Professor James Walker, spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said it should be a 'real worry' for society that women were less likely to have successful pregnancies as they got older. 'The prime time to have a baby is in your 20s,' he added.
Uh huh. And in this study, how do they control for factors like obesity, fear of pain during birth and elective caesars?
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1030911/Four-Caesarean-births-women-delaying-child-birth-late-30s-say-researchers.html
Breast is best in public?
Headline: Mothers win the right to breastfeed in all public places
It's a pretty sad day when a 'victory' for mothers in the UK is that they can breastfeed in public without being charged with public indecency. The move comes in response to data showing Britain has the lowest rate of breastfeeding in Europe.
Interesting that this happy development comes at exactly the same time as UK mother, Stella Onions is castigated for breastfeeding her 5 and 3 yr old children. Stella has been making the news around the world for advocating extended breastfeeding but responses, especially in Australia, tend to be that this poor woman is a 'freak' and her kids are going to have identity issues for the rest of their lives.
Sources: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1026604/Mothers-win-right-breastfeed-public-places.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2110506/Mother-defends-breastfeeding-her-five-year-old.html
It's a pretty sad day when a 'victory' for mothers in the UK is that they can breastfeed in public without being charged with public indecency. The move comes in response to data showing Britain has the lowest rate of breastfeeding in Europe.
Interesting that this happy development comes at exactly the same time as UK mother, Stella Onions is castigated for breastfeeding her 5 and 3 yr old children. Stella has been making the news around the world for advocating extended breastfeeding but responses, especially in Australia, tend to be that this poor woman is a 'freak' and her kids are going to have identity issues for the rest of their lives.
Sources: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1026604/Mothers-win-right-breastfeed-public-places.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2110506/Mother-defends-breastfeeding-her-five-year-old.html
Maternity leave is not a paid holiday
Natasha Kaplinsky, UK broadcaster, recently accepted a £1m paycheck per year for signing on to be the 'face' of Channel 5. However, only 6 weeks into her contract, the 35 year old newsreader announced she was 12 weeks pregnant. It seems despite the British government's increasingly 'family-friendly' workplace accommodations for mothers, Natasha's unborn baby is being positioned in the UK media as more of an inconvenience, rather than a blessing. Everyone it seems is outraged that a woman in her mid-30s would even think about accepting a job with any inclination that at some stage in professional life, she might have a baby.In the Times Online today, one (female) journalist had this to say, referring to pregnancy as an 'intractable problem' with no solution:
"All this is extremely difficult and I am very uncertain as to what, if anything, can reasonably be done. However, surely the most important first step in dealing with such intractable problems is to be free to admit what they are. When hiring women of childbearing age is more problematic than hiring men or other women, employers should be allowed to say so. They should not be forced to pretend that it isn’t so, while at the same time making special allowances for working mothers and offering equal pay for what may not be equal services".
Ah. Right. So who will be in charge of the reproduction of the population is women aren't supposed to be allowed to stop and have babies?
And this v.angry journalist continues:
Many women seem to expect extraordinary rights and allowances so that they can keep their jobs whatever the cost and inconvenience to their employer and to be equally paid when they are not always of equal value. Government and public opinion support them.
Actually, Kaplinsky is not getting 'maternity leave' as she is freelance and is not even being paid. If she was in any other job, Kaplinsky would be entitled to 26 weeks off, regardless of how long she worked for her employer. Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) is paid for 26 weeks. For the first six weeks SMP is paid at 90% of average earnings and for the remaining 20 weeks SMP is £108 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings if this is less. The government has pledged that from 2007, paid maternity leave will be extended from six to nine months, worth an estimated extra £1,400.
So when it comes down to it, this newsreader, despite being promised a million dollar contract, is actually losing money because she's pregnant. She's not being 'equally paid' as angry Times journalist suggests and the ratings for Channel 5 have already gone up since she came on board which should suggest to her employers that hiring her was a good business decision.
It makes me so angry that people think that pregnant women get a great deal when they go on maternity leave. Seriously, having a baby is not like taking a holiday. Being a mother is work. New mothers do not, I repeat, DO NOT, sit on the lounge watching TV all day thinking about how great life is when they aren't working. Babies demand time and energy constantly. Of the new mothers in my study, not only did many of them find the transition to motherhood difficult in itself, the fact that many of them had to discontinue their paid work for the first time in their lives was extremely difficult. It takes a very strong woman to temporarily put her career on hold knowing that there is a chance that her employer could eliminate her position (especially in the US) or give her job to someone else like a 25 year old man who will not bring to the office the 'burdens' of motherhood. Moreover, the fact that in many countries maternity leave is still wholly underfunded and motherhood is not recognised as valuable work only suggests that many prominent 'Western' countries are falling v.short of their promises to maintain family-friendly policies.
Pregnant bridal shop open for business
Considering I spent most of the holiday season in America writing an article about pregnant brides, I was chuffed to find that a maternity bridal shop has opened in the UK called Expectant Bride. For the most part, if you're pregnant and getting married, there are almost no retail outlets where you can shop. Pregnant brides are relegated to finding a dress in online stores or eBay. Not only are more pregnant brides wearing 'white', they can finally have personal consultations with a retailer that will help them find a dress that will actually fit a pregnant stomach.
Of course a shop like this causes some controversy. Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe thinks it is not an enterprise to celebrate. She said: “I think this shop is an extremely sad sign of the times.”
The pregnant bride has rarely been seen as a paradigm to be imitated; the transgressions of bodily boundaries for women during menstruation, pregnancy and lactation have historically contributed to women’s exclusion from the public sphere within Western culture (Douglas 1966; Martin 1992). The ‘ideal’ bride is, in many ways, still represented as a ‘beautiful seductress, virgin and mother’, drawing on images of Christianity, Greco-Roman beliefs about love and romance as well as beliefs about the gendered nature of ‘public’ and ‘private’ spaces.
In both Australia and the United States since World War II, nonmarital cohabitation and childbearing have increased significantly as Anglo middle-class women have had more opportunities for economic independence and education. However, these factors do not provide a complete picture of the trends away from marriage and ‘legitimacy’. Cherlin (1990) suggests, after 1960, men and women were afforded more freedom to challenge conventional paradigms of ‘family’ or ‘marriage’ such that childbearing and marriage became ‘choices’ rather than social requirements.
In particular, the selection of a wedding dress is one of the primary means by which pregnant brides challenge or submit to cultural directives surrounding marriage. Established as ‘proper’ bridal attire at the end of the nineteenth century following Queen Victoria’s marriage to Price Albert in 1840, the silk and lace white dress Queen Victoria wore culturally entrenched the necessity of a white dress in America and abroad. For decades, the pregnant bride was not considered to be a ‘legitimate’ consumer in the ‘West’; a maternity wedding dress, for example, was largely unheard of unless a bride had a dress custom-made or if she purchased a ‘normal’ wedding dress in a larger size. As the contemporary pregnancy is clearly a visible and highly commodified experience for middle-class women given the excessive costs associated with maternity fashion, baby accessories and even private prenatal care, it is no surprise that bridal retailers would capitalise on another niche market.
Sources:
ARGH! Bad journalism = dangerous stereotypes
Headline: Royal college warns abortions can lead to mental illness
That's a pretty controversial headline if you ask me. According to the The Times:
"The Royal College of Psychiatrists says women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counselled on the possible risk to their mental health".
Just as I was on the verge of becoming completely incensed with another example of biomedicine and the State intervening in women's reproductive choices with ridiculous scare tactics (kind of like how pregnant women are told if they even look at coffee, they could potentially harm their unborn), I then noticed a link to the actual statement put out by the Royal College.
Whilst the journalist has essentially written that without a doubt, women who have abortions are at risk of mental illness with no indication of which women she refers to, the statement from the Royal College paints a very different picture.
In fact, the Royal College writes that women who have a pre-existing psychiatric condition during pregnancy may be a greater risk for mental health issues following a termination which makes alot more sense than saying any woman who has an abortion is on the road to a mental breakdown. Whereas the journalists cites various studies that support her argument that abortion is bad for mental health, the Royal College notes that the evidence for this is inconclusive.
Moreover, whereas the Royal College suggests updating informational pamphlets distributed to women and putting in place better mental health screening during pregnancy, it seems that some MPs have interpreted this as a perfect oppportunity to put restrict access to abortion. MPs will shortly vote on a proposal to reduce the upper time limit for abortions “for social reasons” from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. Thankfully, this is not yet supported by the government. Even more frightening is that some conservative Christian groups have used the released statement from the Royal College saying that it is not clear whether pregnancy exacerbates mental health issues to argue that if it is not clear that pregnancy is detrimental to women's mental health than why should women be allowed to have abortions at all?
Interesting how many different ways one very neutral statement can be interpreted depending on one's political agenda.
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3559486.ece
That's a pretty controversial headline if you ask me. According to the The Times:
"The Royal College of Psychiatrists says women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counselled on the possible risk to their mental health".
Just as I was on the verge of becoming completely incensed with another example of biomedicine and the State intervening in women's reproductive choices with ridiculous scare tactics (kind of like how pregnant women are told if they even look at coffee, they could potentially harm their unborn), I then noticed a link to the actual statement put out by the Royal College.
Whilst the journalist has essentially written that without a doubt, women who have abortions are at risk of mental illness with no indication of which women she refers to, the statement from the Royal College paints a very different picture.
In fact, the Royal College writes that women who have a pre-existing psychiatric condition during pregnancy may be a greater risk for mental health issues following a termination which makes alot more sense than saying any woman who has an abortion is on the road to a mental breakdown. Whereas the journalists cites various studies that support her argument that abortion is bad for mental health, the Royal College notes that the evidence for this is inconclusive.
Moreover, whereas the Royal College suggests updating informational pamphlets distributed to women and putting in place better mental health screening during pregnancy, it seems that some MPs have interpreted this as a perfect oppportunity to put restrict access to abortion. MPs will shortly vote on a proposal to reduce the upper time limit for abortions “for social reasons” from 24 weeks to 20 weeks. Thankfully, this is not yet supported by the government. Even more frightening is that some conservative Christian groups have used the released statement from the Royal College saying that it is not clear whether pregnancy exacerbates mental health issues to argue that if it is not clear that pregnancy is detrimental to women's mental health than why should women be allowed to have abortions at all?
Interesting how many different ways one very neutral statement can be interpreted depending on one's political agenda.
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3559486.ece
Homebirths on the rise in the UK
Although homebirth happens in relatively small proportions in most 'Western' parts of the world (only 2.5% in all of the UK), it seems that giving birth comfortably at home is becoming increasingly more appealing. According to new research, in certain parts of the UK where midwife teams are strong, homebirths have shot up to 14.2% in places like West Somerset.
Alongside new legislation promising that by the end of 2009 all women in the UK will be able to choose how they give birth, including at home, there has been a greater willingness for women to explore their birth options with knowledgeable midwives. However, as fantastic as these new plans seem, there is still an increasing shortage of trained midwives (as in Australia) so the feasability of the scheme is significantly in jeopardy.
Nevertheless, in Wales alone, the government has set a target of 10% of all births to take place at home and this has increased the total homebirth rate overall in Wales over the last six years (even though actual figures are not close to 10%).
If you had one-to-one support from a qualified midwife, would you be more likely to consider giving birth at home?
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/huge-rise-in-number-of-home-births-796618.html
Alongside new legislation promising that by the end of 2009 all women in the UK will be able to choose how they give birth, including at home, there has been a greater willingness for women to explore their birth options with knowledgeable midwives. However, as fantastic as these new plans seem, there is still an increasing shortage of trained midwives (as in Australia) so the feasability of the scheme is significantly in jeopardy.
Nevertheless, in Wales alone, the government has set a target of 10% of all births to take place at home and this has increased the total homebirth rate overall in Wales over the last six years (even though actual figures are not close to 10%).
If you had one-to-one support from a qualified midwife, would you be more likely to consider giving birth at home?
Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/huge-rise-in-number-of-home-births-796618.html
australian homebirth
There was an interesting debate sparked about Australian homebirth on Sunrise (Channel 7) last week and, as a result, Marie Claire (the women's mag) has developed a forum for readers to leave comments about homebirth and their experiences thereof. I imagine all of these comments will develop into some sort of article for a forthcoming issue.
This is the description from Marie Claire's website:
"The UK government has recently announced plans to encourage more women to have home births, saying that expectant mothers should have greater choices over where they give birth. The proposal has been welcomed by midwives, but met with concern by some groups who say there are safety issues involved. In Australia, about one per cent of all babies are delivered in home births. The issue was debated by Channel Seven's Sunrise panel, which included marie claire editor Jackie Frank".
Post your thoughts on the Marie Claire website:
http://au.blogs.yahoo.com/marie-claire/964/home-birth-debate/
This is the description from Marie Claire's website:
"The UK government has recently announced plans to encourage more women to have home births, saying that expectant mothers should have greater choices over where they give birth. The proposal has been welcomed by midwives, but met with concern by some groups who say there are safety issues involved. In Australia, about one per cent of all babies are delivered in home births. The issue was debated by Channel Seven's Sunrise panel, which included marie claire editor Jackie Frank".
Post your thoughts on the Marie Claire website:
http://au.blogs.yahoo.com/marie-claire/964/home-birth-debate/
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