Ireland’s maternity services are once again under the spotlight, as an overwhelming number of callers to RTE Radio One’s Liveline described difficult experiences of the system. Women told of being dismissed and humiliated, and a minority told of severe injuries to them or their baby. They were all over the country and they had given birth [...]
Every so often a radio phone-in show opens a Pandora's Box and out pours a hitherto hidden trove of stories that shock the listener. We thought we had heard it all when it came to reproductive healthcare in Ireland after the many shocking stories that led to repeal of the eighth amendment. But all week, call [...]
New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern gave birth yesterday to a beautiful baby girl. Mother, baby, and soon to be stay-at-home Dad are reportedly all doing well. She will take six weeks’ maternity leave, and her husband will take over childcare duties after that. The overwhelming reaction online was ‘Woman gives birth. So what?’. But it’s [...]
Me on my first day back at work after maternity leave. There was a LOT of concealer involved. Thousands of us do it every year and thousands more have been here before us. We trudge, skip or sail back into the office after between six and ten months at home, learning how to cope [...]
Lying down in a dimly lit, pleasantly scented room while someone gently rubs your feet is something everyone should do at least once in their life, and if that happens to be during pregnancy, so much for the better. You may not be able to have a pedicure during your first trimester - some spas and [...]
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