Sarah Jameson faces the first major challenge of her son’s school year: coming up with a costume for ‘colonial’ day. Our first child started school this year, and it has been the most wonderful experience. The first hurdle, however, presented itself on Tuesday in the form...
Wendy James considers the lifetime commitment that is parenthood. When the receptionist asks for my daughter’s date of birth I am slow to respond. Is it the 23rd or the 24th? May or June? The woman laughs, shakes her head and clucks: “How could Mummy forget...
Martha Wegner gives into the contemplation of temptation. “Mum, I have something to show you.” Grim words spoken with a sombre expression. A slight look of panic around the eyes nearly gives him away. My son has something to show me all right, and it isn’t...
Linda McIver comes to the conclusion that sometimes, near enough is good enough. This morning, I picked a fight with my six-year-old, Chloe. I didn’t set out to fight, of course, but she was really pushing my buttons. Her claim that she had finished her writing...
This new memoir of one woman’s journey through hell and back is an amazing read for anyone, regardless of whether they have experienced the birth of a child or not. It's a roller-coaster from page to page as you realise that she really is ill and...
Victoria Steele and her husband have chosen a host of girls’ names – but their baby is a boy. At 32 weeks pregnant, if anyone asked me what the hardest part about having a baby is, I’d know my answer. And it’s not the lumbering around...
Far-right ‘tradwives’ see feminism as evil. Their lifestyles push back against ‘the lie of equality’ Researchers Kristy Campion and Kiriloi M. Ingram look at what this means There is a seductive simplicity to the “tradwife” trend, with its filtered representations of domestic bliss—from homesteading to homeschooling, home baking...
Researchers at Monash University have discovered that a high-fiber diet during pregnancy can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in children. Published in Circulation Research, the study highlights a strong connection between a mother’s diet and her child’s long-term heart health. "Fibre, found in foods...
A new framework by La Trobe University’s Judith Lumley Centre aims to empower childbirth experiences by aligning coping strategies with women’s preferences and values. This initiative follows concerns about birth trauma highlighted in the New South Wales Parliamentary Inquiry into Birth Trauma. The research, led by...
We’re blinded by the birth block. We read all the books and take all the classes to help prepare for that one momentous day (and we should; birth IS important). But, we fail to see past birth and too often neglect to prepare for postpartum,...
