During COVID-19, women are opting for 'freebirthing' if homebirths aren't available. And that's a worry reports Hannah Dahlen The pandemic is prompting some Australian pregnant women to give birth at home without a midwife or registered health provider, according to a survey out this week. Another...
Klay Lamprell finds that the biggest challenges faced by pregnant women with a disability are not physical but social. Sharon Simmons was born with shortened arms and legs as a consequence of her mother’s use of the drug thalidomide during pregnancy. She had always felt quite...
COVID-19 lockdowns have led to suggestions there could be a “coronial” baby boom. But while a baby boom as a side effect of the devastating pandemic sounds kind of nice, it is probably too good to be true, writes Liz Allen, What is more likely is...
Breastfeeding mothers may be encouraged to eat eggs to help prevent babies from developing an egg allergy, according to new studies by researchers at The University of Western Australia (UWA). Study leader Professor Valerie Verhasselt, from UWA’s School of Molecular Sciences, said the findings were important...
Alyce Wilson, Caroline Homer and Lisa Amir look into the challenges of breastfeeding. More than 90% of Australian women start breastfeeding soon after the birth of their baby, but only 15% are exclusively breastfeeding at six months, despite national and international recommendations. The World Health Organisation recommends...
Sharon Smart and Mary Claessen look at the condition called 'tongue-tie' and its impact on development and its treatment. Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! Is it joyful? What if your baby cries, fusses and isn’t feeding well? Perhaps you’ve tried breast and bottle-feeding without...
If you’re pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic, you might be feeling a unique type of stress, writes Monique Robinson. You might be uncertain about how an infection could affect your unborn baby. That’s over and above the stress you might be feeling about the pregnancy itself,...
There is a major issue not addressed before the birth of a child, writes Barry Cail. When my wife and I went to our first prenatal class, the midwife discussed everything from changing nappies, lack of sleep and the partner’s support role, to not having enough...
When a mother gives birth to twins, the offspring are not always identical or even the same gender write Joseph L Tomkins, Rebecca Sear and Wade Hazel Known as fraternal twins, they represent a longstanding evolutionary puzzle. Identical twins arise from a single fertilised egg that accidentally...
For the first time, a study – led by UNSW Medicine – has estimated a woman’s chances of having a second IVF baby. Women have a good chance of having a second child with the help of fertility treatment after their first was child born this...
