International

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.

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.

Commenting on the study published today (Wednesday, 3rd February 2010) in the British Journal of Psychiatry on pregnant women and the ‘baby brain myth', Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, said: "This is useful research that I have no doubt will be interesting to women and health professionals. It is about time that some research lays to rest this notion of pregnant women and the ‘baby brain' myth.

Commenting on the finding on smoking and its affects on the blood pressure of newborns from the Karolinska Institutet, published 25th January 2010 in ‘Hypertension' the Journal of the American Heart Association, Janet Fyle, Professional Policy Advisor at the Royal College of Midwives, said:   "These findings support what we know; that smoking during pregnancy can harm the developing fetus. The RCM would urge pregnant women who smoke to seek advice and support from their midwife about stopping smoking, for the benefit of their own long-term health. This would also benefit the health of their child."

A number of newspaper articles have today reported on a Norwegian study which has found an association between higher levels of male hormones in pregnancy and the ability to breastfeed after birth.

Midirs has received the following request - can you help?

Senator Edward Kennedy, who died on Tuesday 25 August 2009, played a pivotal role in protecting babies around the world from the aggressive marketing of baby food companies such as Nestlé. Though companies continue to contribute to the unnecessary death and suffering of infants through aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes, a senate hearing held by Senator Kennedy in 1978 led to a marketing code being adopted by the World Health Assembly three years later, a vital tool for holding corporations to account. Today over 70 countries have introduced the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and subsequent, relevant Resolutions into national measures and where these are enforced, breastfeeding rates are recovering.

New Delhi / Bangkok 5 August 2008 - Global achievement of the health related Millenium Development Goals, the MDGs, depends largely on India`s success and on China accelerating progress even further, according to a new UNICEF report which examines the latest trends in child and maternal health.