Surrogate mother jailed for faking pregnancies

Louise Pollard, who agreed to act as a surrogate mother for one of Osama bin Laden's sons, jailed for faking pregnancies

A woman who achieved notoriety by agreeing to act as a surrogate mother for one of Osama bin Laden's sons has been jailed for faking pregnancies to trick desperate prospective parents out of thousands of pounds.

Louise Pollard, 28, from Plymouth, pretended to inseminate herself before telling couples that she was expecting their child but would then "milk" her victims by saying she needed money to maintain her car or had fallen behind on her rent. Bristol crown court was told Pollard's scam was uncovered when a pregnancy confirmation letter she sent to one of the couples was found to be a forgery. Pollard was jailed for three years and four months for fraud by false representation.

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Pregnant women using alternative therapies urged to tell their doctors

Natural not always safe, warn experts, as study shows 90% of pregnant Australian women use complementary treatments

Doctors are urging pregnant Australian women to tell them about their use of complementary and alternative therapies after a new study found 90% are using such treatments, often on the advice of their friends and families.

Using data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Womens Health pregnancy sub-survey of more than 1,800 women, researchers found almost half consulted a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioner and almost 90% used a CAM product during pregnancy. More than 40% were influenced to do so by family and friends, while about half were influenced by their own use of CAM in the past.

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Jobless pregnant women face same wait for income support as under-30s

Government will not specify exemptions for pregnancy in its welfare reforms

Unemployed pregnant women may go months without income support under proposed changes to Australias welfare system.

The government has refused to specify exemptions for pregnant women in their reforms which will see people under 30 go six months at a time without income support.

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20 best iPhone and iPad apps this week

World in Motion, Orange is the New Black, NYT Opinion, Modio, Bubble Witch Saga 2, Rival Knights and more

It's time for our weekly roundup of the best new iPhone and iPad apps and games to have emerged on Apple's App Store.

As ever, prices are correct at the time of writing, but may have changed by the time you read this. (Free + IAP) means in-app purchases are used within the app.

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Less thinking, more drinking: a case for old-fashioned Parenting

Modern mothers have so much information to process and expectations to conform to that it can result in unnecessary stress. But could parenting be one of those rare things where an old-fashioned approach could actually be better than the modern one?

Ive just survived my first year of motherhood. And I love it, its the best thing ever, life has so much more meaning, etc. But lets get to the harder stuff: nothing could have prepared me for the relentlessness of being so needed, for the immeasurable weight of being so crucial to the very survival of a helpless human being. Sleepless nights, hectic days, and this weird stickiness that just ends up on everything.

Despite being madly in love with my baby daughter, sometimes I couldnt help but feel like a hostage. When other parents say I cant remember life without em! I think they must have concussion. Really? You cant remember carefree nights out and actually needing an alarm to get up in the morning? Freely using the toilet because you havent got a sleeping infant slung across your body? Not smelling of vomit? In my darkest moments it felt the only difference between motherhood and Stockholm Syndrome was the size of the captor.

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Women 'risk premature birth if they have second child too quickly'

Research finds women who give birth again within 18 months are more likely to have premature baby

Mothers should wait at least 18 months after giving birth before having another child in case their next baby arrives dangerously early, experts say.

Research has found that women who give birth again within 18 months of having a baby, especially within a year, are much more likely to have a very premature child and are also running a higher risk of having a child with a birth defect or childhood behavioural problems.

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Autistic boys exposed to higher levels of hormones in womb, study finds

Study of amniotic fluid shows boys with autism had raised levels of testosterone, cortisol and other hormones in the womb

Research on children in Denmark has found that boys with autism were more likely to have been exposed to higher levels of hormones in their mother's wombs than those who developed normally.

Boys diagnosed with autism and related disorders had, on average, raised levels of testosterone, cortisol and other hormones in the womb, according to analyses of amniotic fluid that was stored after their mothers had medical tests during pregnancy.

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