Raver drug Ketamine control plan at UN condemned as potential 'disaster'

Repeated Chinese attempts to tighten controls on drug used by western clubbers but vital for developing countries described as ‘David and Goliath struggle’ between poor and rich countries

A proposal that is about to come before the UN to restrict global access to ketamine, a drug abused in rich countries, would deprive millions of women of lifesaving surgery in poor countries, according to medicines campaigners.

Ketamine, known to clubbers by a variety of names including ket, Vitamin K and Special K, is one of the most commonly used anaesthetics in the developing world. As it is injectable, it can be used in rural areas where anaesthetic gases are unavailable.

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Shopping vouchers 'most effective' way to help pregnant women stop smoking

One-fifth kicked the habit before giving birth when receiving financial incentives in a Cambridge university study, more than twice the rate using traditional services

Pregnant women are more likely to stop smoking if they are given shopping vouchers as a financial incentive, according to scientists.

The study found that one-fifth of women in the scheme had stopped smoking by the time they gave birth, more than twice the rate achieved using traditional support services.

People have this attitude of ‘why should the feckless poor who smoke their head off during pregnancy be rewarded?'

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Teenage pregnancy rate at record low

Conception rate among girls aged 15-17 has almost halved in 15 years, while rate among women over 40 has more than doubled

The number of girls under 18 falling pregnant in England and Wales continues to fall and is at the lowest level since records began in 1969.

Estimated conception rates among girls aged 15-17 have almost halved in 15 years, to 24.5 per 1,000 girls, according to figures (pdf) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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Teenage pregnancy in England and Wales at lowest rate in 46 years

Latest figures show conceptions among under-18s has fallen 14% to levels of 1969 but abortion rate of those pregnancies has risen slightly

Rates of conception for under-18s in England and Wales are at their lowest since records began, in 1969, according to the latest official figures.

The pregnancy rate for women aged 15 – 17 was at 24.5 conceptions per thousand, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

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A vote to criminalise gender-selective abortion will be a disaster for women | Rebecca Schiller

Britain should address the pressures on women, not criminalise them – as happened in the US

Today MPs will vote on whether to amend the serious crime bill to make abortion based on foetal gender a crime. As someone who cares about gender discrimination, the idea of sex-selective abortion is hard to stomach. I believe that it is important to address the issues that lead to women being pressured to have abortions solely on the grounds of foetal gender. It is essential that we tackle the complex socio-cultural ideas that promote this gender bias urgently, and at their roots.

But making sex-selective abortion a serious crime – meaning that vulnerable women will be arrested, imprisoned and ultimately blamed for the pressures exerted upon them – is, at best, a bad idea. At worst it is a strategic attempt to criminalise abortion, promoting the faulty logic that women are not to be trusted to make decisions about their reproductive futures.

Related: The Observer view on the sex-selection debate

The UK anti-abortion lobby has been promoting the amendment, realising its capacity to fracture the pro-choice voice

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Scientists urge action on obesity in women to cut risks to babies

Children of obese mothers may be more likely to develop heart disease, have a stroke or develop type 2 diabetes, according to major European study

Urgent strategies are needed to prevent girls and young women becoming obese because of the damaging long-term consequences for themselves and their babies should they become pregnant, say scientists involved in a major European research project.

The children of obese mothers may be more likely to develop heart disease, have a stroke or develop type 2 diabetes, say researchers presenting the first results from the Dorian consortium, which is funded by the European commission and has been running for three years so far. Other researchers found that children of obese mothers may suffer mood disorders in adulthood.

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Abstain from alcohol in early pregnancy, says updated advice

Guidance on drinking during pregnancy revised from two units once or twice a week to no alcohol at all in first trimester

Women trying to have a baby and those in the first first three months of pregnancy are advised to avoid alcohol altogether under updated advice from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).

The college previously said mothers-to-be should not drink more than two units once or twice a week – a small glass of wine of 125ml is 1.5 units. There is no proven safe amount of alcohol that women can drink during pregnancy, the college said, and it is also often difficult to work out just how much a woman is drinking, especially if they drink at home.

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Ask Molly Ringwald: I lost my baby and my pregnant friend may use the name we both like. Do I say anything?

‘Would it have been OK for both of you to use the same name had you both become pregnant?’

A close friend has announced her pregnancy. We both struggled to conceive, and our shared experience brought us closer. I lost a pregnancy a few months ago in its very early stages and, though my husband and I are undergoing treatment, my prospects for conceiving are bleak.

Here is the real problem: we want the same name for our potential daughters. It’s not an odd name, but neither is it very common or trendy.

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ASA bans advert implying vitamin pills could help women conceive

Advertising regulator rules ad for Vitabiotics’ Pregnacare Conception implied supplement had health benefit over and above contributing to normal fertility

An advert for a vitamin supplement designed for women trying to conceive has been banned after the regulator ruled there was no proof that the product could increase the likelihood of pregnancy.

The national press ad for Pregnacare Conception showed an image of a sperm entering an egg and said: “For women who are trying for a baby zinc contributes to normal fertility and reproduction plus 20 nutrients including folic acid, vitamins B12, and D.”

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Church ‘irresponsible’ for trying to sway MPs against mitochondrial donation law

Senior MP hits back at church groups for encouraging a vote against allowing DNA transfer to stop genetic disease being passed on

A senior MP has branded as utterly outrageous and irresponsible the attempt by church groups to get MPs to vote against a change in law that would allow an IVF procedure to stop genetic diseases being passed on to babies.

MPs are facing a flurry of last-minute lobbying before Tuesday’s crucial free vote on mitochondrial donation that would allow IVF to involve biological material from three “parents”.

Related: UK urged to permit IVF procedure to prevent fatal genetic diseases

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