Meghann Birks asserts her free will by freewheeling… just for a while. I am playing roller derby, a sport where women from all walks of life strap on rollerskates, dress up in wacky (and sometimes provocative) clothes, create alter egos and battle it out on the...
Like them or loathe them, Neha Shukla discovers how validating a mothers’ group can be. “Try and stay in touch with each other after your babies are born,” the midwife told everyone in our antenatal class. I remember thinking, ‘We’re not going to have time to...
Evelyn Lewin questions the dodgy definitions that are often applied to baby behaviour. Let me start by saying that I hate baby labels. No, not the extraordinarily expensive tiny pieces of cloth that little boutique shops sell at ridiculously marked-up prices because they are a ‘brand’....
Lucinda Bertram reminds us of the joys of child’s play. If my lounge room is looking neat and no form of craft is filling up the dining-room table, then you can pretty much guarantee we’ve been on holiday or the TV has been on for too...
Andrea Travers wonders if over-protecting our children is harmful. From advertising to the evening news, the message is ‘Be afraid’. We can never let up, never let go. Our children are always at risk in so many aspects of their lives, from educational underachievement to stranger...
Covering your baby’s pram with a dry cloth can increase the temperature by almost 4 degrees. Here’s what to do instead, reports James Smallcombe, Mohammad Fauzan Bin Maideen, and Ollie Jay We like to think of babies as tiny versions of ourselves. But babies aren’t simply...
Most babies born to mothers with COVID-19 were separated after birth resulting in low breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact rates during the height of the pandemic, according to a new global study. Research at a Glance: A Murdoch Children’s Research Institute-led global study has found most...
Newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy improves chances of walking and quality of life A study by the Sydney Children's Hospital Network (SCHN) and UNSW (Sydney) researchers shows that early diagnosis means early treatment. Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a childhood-onset motor neuron disease. Left untreated, it...
Here’s why that won’t necessarily work, writes Mischa Bongers It’s commonly understood that having a baby can be a primary cause of later pelvic floor problems, such as bladder leakage. While giving birth can be a very special and joyful time, it can sometimes be difficult...
Alice Osborne was determined to breastfeed her newborn son, but both he, and a wayward truck, had other plans. “I’d much rather have a happy mum who can put all her energy into enjoying my company and loving me,” concluded William, my three-month-old son, in a...
