Controversy has erupted over women’s bodies in Britain this week. Pregnant women’s bodies, in particular. In other words, a very personal time in a woman’s life, yet one that causes all manner of people to come out of the woodwork with advice, opinions and unsolicited touching of the bump. A new report by the National ...
Childbirth. Despite having what a shop assistant once described as “splendid childbearing hips,” I don’t know much about it. Even with my lack of maternal knowledge, there were a few things I took as fact. –It takes about nine months to grow a baby. –There is a lot of kicking from within the bump. –There’s ...
Halina Jane Gillett has Erb’s Palsy. This disease, also known as Erb-Duchenne Palsy, is a paralysis of the arm caused by injury to the upper group of the arm’s main nerves, and often manifests itself after a difficult birth. Gillett was pulled out of the womb by a forceps, even though her mother asked for ...
The age-old cliché about the beauty of womanhood is having the gift of life. Eva Ottosson, 56, will take that idea to the next level by giving her life-making gifts to her daughter Sara, 25, who was born without reproductive organs. The womb transplant could take place as early as next spring in Gothenburg, Sweden. ...
Pregnancy-related deaths have increased substantially in the past decade and caesareans are often involved, a recent study suggests. While the rise in maternal mortality can also be attributed to factors such as obesity, cardiovascular disease and low socio-economic background, the increase in c-section deaths is particularly alarming. A World Health Organization study conducted in 2010 ...
Doctors in Sweden have developed a test that can predict which women will need a cesarean section and which won’t.
All gloves are off in the fight between the medical establishment and parents concerning home birth. Mothers who want a home birth, or who want to reduce their chances of having a c-section, are being called unfit parents for putting their children at risk. In an editorial, The Lancet took aim at the practice of ...
The World Health Organization has withdrawn its recommendation that no more than 10 to 15 per cent of babies be born by Caesarean section. Is this a silent acknowledgment that c-sections are a legitimate alternative to a natural birth? I certainly hope not. The number of Caesarean sections in the world is climbing, and in ...
Michelle Duggar gave birth to her nineteenth child on Thursday. The premature baby was born at only one pound, six ounces and the mother is still recovering from the emergency c-section. While we wish them both health, it begs the question, how many babies is too much? Where I live, women are basically baby making ...
So, we’re having this baby. It’s due in a few weeks and we’re trying to get organized with all...
I recently heard about what is claimed to be the rising phenomenon of Japanese men remaining virgins for longer...
Ladders. Patriarchal conspiracy. I’ll explain… This week I climbed a ladder. I was trying to reach a loft space,...
Dear Madame X, My boyfriend needs to look at porn while we have sex. It bothers me because I...
Mrs. Dalloway is yet another feminist classic that I had to grow into. Wrapped up in Woolf’s instantly recognizable...
Last week saw a Big Thing come to our soggy little island. Well, it was a Big Thing for...
Last weekend I was entertaining a guest, you know, the sort I was planning to have lots and lots...
All little girls want to be princesses… right?! It’s bad enough that toy aisles are separated out by what...
