Danielle Aalders reflects on giving birth by caesarean when this was not part of her plans. When I found out I was pregnant, I stated to anyone who would listen that I did not want to have a caesarean. I was quite emphatic about it. I...
During International Fathers' Mental Health Day on June 17th 2024, the Centre for Perinatal Psychology is encouraging dads who may be struggling to come forward and seek help. While it has long been recognised that as many as 15 per cent of new mothers may experience...
When a child gets admitted to hospital for their asthma, write Dr Katherine Chen and Professor Harriet Hiscock, it is an opportunity to make a plan for staying out of hospital too. Asthma is the most common chronic illness in Australian children, affecting one in...
‘I have been ground down’: about 50% of Australian principals and other school leaders are thinking of quitting. Paul Kidson, Herb Marsh and Theresa Dicke investigate the problem. Australia’s school principals collectively manage nearly 3 million students and staff. But who is responsible for them? Since 2011,...
No more BMI, diets or ‘bad’ foods. Vivienne Lewis looks at what is changing. How many of us recall having to calculate our body-mass index (BMI) as children at school, prompting comparisons of our weight with that of our peers? Or perhaps we remember references to...
Researchers Jenny Gore and Drew Miller look at ways to improve teaching by boosting teachers’ morale and lifting student outcomes at the same time. Australian schools are facing unsustainable pressures. There are almost daily reports of too many students falling behind and not enough teachers to...
Sexism, misogyny and gendered violence are now part of Australia’s national conversation, writes Dr Catherine Smith This article contains references to offensive language Recently, several male students from the elite Yarra Valley Grammar in Melbourne’s east were expelled after they put together a spreadsheet rating the attractiveness...
Fearing a tsunami of hospitalisations for RSV-related pneumonia and bronchiolitis, experts are calling for a Nationwide infant RSV immunisation program. What is RSV? Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a common virus that can cause severe lung infections like pneumonia and bronchiolitis, particularly in young children and the...
Taking her children to the hairdresser is no longer a hair-raising experience for children's author Katrina Germein My sister-in-law recently told me a story about taking her three-year-old daughter to the hairdresser. Her daughter was perched on the stool, ready for a haircut, while she fussed...
Australia will trial ‘age assurance’ tech to bar children from online porn. What is it, and will it work? asks Paul Haskell-Dowland Responding to a resurgence in gender-based violence and deaths in Australia, the National Cabinet has committed almost A$1 billion to a range of strategies. Tackling “online...
