Informed Choice News

The cot death charity, The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (FSID), is concerned to see that young mums are still more likely to suffer a cot death than older mothers.

Once labour starts, it's generally considered advisable for the mother to stay at home as long as possible: if she rushes into hospital early, more medical interventions during the birth usually follow. Fathers are very important at this point: research by the University of Worcester found that they can be very influential as to whether mothers head straight for hospital or hang on at home.

190 MPs have now pledged to support initiatives to improve the numbers of babies breastfed in the local area and to support measures to increase the duration of breastfeeding to meet government guidelines, marking National Breastfeeding Week 2010.

Commenting on the NICE Guidelines on quitting smoking in pregnancy and following childbirth published today (23 June 2010), Sue Macdonald, Education and Research Manager at the Royal College of Midwives, said: "We welcome these guidelines, because there is no doubt about the negative effects of smoking on the health of women and their babies. Midwives and other health workers should be doing all they can to encourage women to stop smoking. However, this must be in the context of being non-judgemental, non-biased, and being aware that smoking rates amongst the more vulnerable women are often high.

There are only a few days left before world leaders meet for the G8 summit in Canada. You can help to ensure that maternal and child health is kept high on the agenda by signing the ONE petition.

National Breastfeeding Week (21-27 June) sees The Baby Cafe Charitable Trust join NCT, the UK's largest parenting charity, to help even more mums who want to breastfeed. The Baby Cafe breastfeeding drop-ins will now join the wide range of services NCT charity offers parents around the UK.

"It's been a life changing experience," said Wayne Rooney, one of England's leading footballers in the People. "Becoming a dad means you have to be a role model for your son and be someone he can look up to. I don't think it has changed me as the person I am, but it has just added something different to my life in a great way. It's different and hard work, but a great feeling."

The European Commission will be voting on the Regulation of the provision of food information to consumers on 15th June 2010 and MEPs will then decide how to inform consumers about the nutritional content of food.

Help the NMC shape the new Midwives Rules and maintain high-quality care for women and families. The NMC is looking for feedback on the proposed changes to the Midwives Rules to ensure the new rules are effective and up-to-date.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has today (Wednesday 26 May) launched the first national evidence-based guidelines on the diagnosis and management of idiopathic[1] childhood constipation.