Caesarean section late in labour increases risk of preterm birth next time

Women who have a late emergency surgery should be monitored as high risk for subsequent pregnancy, researchers say

Undergoing an emergency caesarean section during the final stage of labour should be added to the list of risk factors for experiencing a premature birth in subsequent pregnancies, a study published on Thursday suggests.

In one of the largest Australian studies into the link between caesarean sections and premature birth, researchers from Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred hospital and the University of Sydney studied 2,672 women who either had a caesarean section during the first stage of labour, or at a late stage once their cervix was fully dilated.

Related: Pregnancy and mental health should be covered by all private insurance, say doctors

Related: Women have the right to know about injuries of vaginal birth beforehand | Sascha Callaghan and Amy Corderoy

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Birth defect risks of sodium valproate 'known 40 years ago'

Campaigners say young women of childbearing age should have been warned about the epilepsy drug as long ago as 1974

Warnings to young women who might become pregnant that the epilepsy drug sodium valproate could cause birth defects and developmental problems in their babies could have been made public more than 40 years ago, according to campaigners.

“These warnings could have and should have been given in 1974,” said Catherine Cox from the Fetal Anti-Convulsant Syndrome Association at a public hearing of the European Medicines Agency, which is conducting a risk assessment of the drug. “However, there was a deliberate decision not to publish them.”

Related: Anti-epilepsy drug case: 'I followed all the advice'

Related: Epilim: the anti-epilepsy drug at centre of legal case

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Stuart Heritage: ‘This is how families work. You gain members, you lose members’

Alone as his wife was rushed into surgery for their second emergency caesarean, Stuart Heritage yearned to see his mother. But she wasn’t there. As one life ended, another began

Monday 21 August 2017

There’s strong competition here, but I think I just experienced the loneliest moment of my life. It happened six hours ago, after my wife was wheeled into an operating theatre for an emergency caesarean.

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Serena Williams shares first photos of daughter Alexis Olympia

In a video welcoming her first child, the singles champion who won 23 grand slams says there were ‘a lot of complications’

Serena Williams has released the first images of her newborn daughter Alexis.

The 23-time grand slam singles champion gave birth on 1 September, and announced on Wednesday that she and her fiance, Alexis Ohanian, have named their daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr.

Related: 'She will be stronger': How Serena Williams can make the mother of all comebacks

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Little evidence that light drinking in pregnancy is harmful, say experts

Women worried by guidance advising abstinence should be told there is little evidence that the odd glass of wine causes harm to the baby, says study

Mothers who are consumed by anxiety and guilt for having drunk the odd glass of wine when they are pregnant should be reassured by a new study showing there is very little evidence that it harms the baby, say experts.

Drinking in pregnancy is a fraught issue and causes much anxiety. Last year new guidance to the NHS in England urged women to try not to drink at all, but in the real world, say the new study’s authors, up to 80% in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia drink some alcohol while they are pregnant. Since half of all pregnancies are unplanned, many women drink before the test shows positive.

Related: Warning pregnant women over dangers of alcohol goes too far, experts say

Related: Pregnant women don’t need a blanket ban on drinking. They need the facts | Jennie Bristow

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What I’m really thinking: the pregnant grieving mother

I’m sad this pregnancy won’t be one of happy anticipation

Last time, I told everyone straight away. I was thrilled and saw no point in waiting for three months, by which point many people have guessed anyway. I knew that if I had an early miscarriage I would want to talk to friends, so it would be better if they knew I was pregnant.

But this time I don’t want to tell anyone. People smile and say things like, “You must be thrilled!” I can see some friends think my news means my life is back to normal, that this erases all the pain of the six months since my three-month-old son died of sudden infant death syndrome. But I’m not thrilled – I’m terrified, sad and grieving.

Related: What I’m really thinking: the successful dieter

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I imagined myself pregnant, felt tiny fingers in mine, I dreamed about babies | Sally-Ann Rowland

Attempting motherhood has been the most profound experience of my life. My longing coated everything I saw

I ran into attempted motherhood like a wall and it grew to become the worst period of my life. Eventually, a garden of possibility broke through the mound of crap and enabled me to like the unexpected life I am now living.

I was 35 and charmingly, newly in love. With this shiny affair returned my dreams of parenthood. The sword of Damocles of my 40th birthday was just far enough away for me to build an idyllic mental castle: there was me, together with my new beau, and two beautiful children, with the various accoutrements of a comfortable life, including a nice home, close friendships, lots of sex and laughs, satisfying employment, enough money, rah rah rah.

Related: Women aren't meant to talk about miscarriage. But I've never been able to keep a secret

Everyone seemed to be pregnant everywhere.

I poured my broken heart into reviewing the masses of material on donor IVF.

Related: After three miscarriages, I’m becoming jealous and resentful of my pregnant friends

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No prosecution risk for Northern Ireland medical staff over abortion referrals

Medical professionals told they will not face prosecution if they refer women to clinics in England and Wales for abortions

Medical staff in Northern Ireland have been told they will not face prosecution if they refer women to clinics in England and Wales for abortions, a development that campaigners say will ease the climate of fear under which many have been operating.

In a significant clarification of the law, the director of public prosecutions for Northern Ireland, Barra McGrory, has said he does “not see the issue of criminal liability arising in the context of NHS staff advising or informing patients of the availability of abortion services in England and Wales”.

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Post-Brexit passport-free access to language and culture | Letters

Wales | Specs scenes | Obscure ingredients | Hyperemesis gravidarum | Theresa May

Don’t worry Andrew Smith (Letters, 4 September). Even if Brexit makes it difficult for you to use your linguistic skills in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, to sample their wine and food, enjoy their cultures and make friends, there is a country just across the tariff-free, passport-free border from where you live, where food, wine, culture, friendship and another language are waiting to be sampled. Croeso i Gymru!
Gwyneth Pendry
Caergybi, Ynys Môn

• The scene that gives the most graphic warning to those doomed to wear glasses (The joy of specs: eyewear’s starring role in cinematic history, 1 September) is in It’s A Wonderful Life. George Bailey is shown how bleak the future would be if he had never been born. It’s revealed his wife Mary will become an old maid doomed to wear glasses. She’s also a librarian.
Alan Cleaver
Cumbria

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Artificial wombs could soon be a reality. What will this mean for women?

Technology is well on the way to realising ectogenesis, improving premature baby survival and increasing fertility options. But it also has other, more frightening, implications

We are approaching a biotechnological breakthrough. Ectogenesis, the invention of a complete external womb, could completely change the nature of human reproduction. In April this year, researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia announced their development of an artificial womb. The “biobag” is intended to improve the survival rates of premature babies and is a significant step forward from conventional incubators. Their results show that lambs (at the equivalent of a premature human foetus of 22-24 weeks) are able to successfully grow in the biobag, with the oldest lamb now more than one year old.

Related: Artificial womb for premature babies successful in animal trials

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Serena Williams gives birth to baby girl, says coach

Patrick Mouratoglou reveals on Twitter that Williams and her partner, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have become parents

Serena Williams has given birth to a baby girl, the first child for the former world number one tennis player, her coach Patrick Mouratoglou said on Twitter on Friday.

The 35-year-old American, who is engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, has not competed since winning the Australian Open in January but has posted several videos to social media showing her hitting balls during her pregnancy.

Related: 'I’m black so I look mean?' Serena Williams discusses race and pregnancy

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