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 [...]
We live in an age of unprecedented equality between parents, but, almost three years in, I can confirm that it’s news to many people that men can be parents too. Many of my female friends out-earn their husbands and partners. Sometimes, the early rationale for their career decisions included an expectation that the man would take [...]
A bit like Batman watching Gotham city, I spent much of September observing the movements of boats and planes around Cork Harbour. Batman might be nocturnal, but if they’d given the job to Catwoman she’d have worked it around pregnancy and new motherhood no problem - being awake night and day is part of the deal. [...]
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 [...]
The case of little Charlie Gard divided opinions right around the world, as the struggle between science and hope went all the way to Britain’s highest courts and to some of the world’s most powerful figures. Donald Trump intervened. So did the Pope. But in the end the only hope for this terribly ill little boy [...]
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 [...]
In Rwanda in 2013, I walked among display cases full of skeletons, trying hard not to cry because it was not my tragedy. An atrocity like the Rwandan genocide diminishes each of us individually and as a part of humanity. But it was not my grief to own or display and I did not want to be [...]
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 [...]
If, like me, you’re a fan of massage in general then you’ll find the first trimester of pregnancy frustrating, because as mentioned above, most spas will refuse to treat you while you’re at this delicate stage. You also need to find a specially trained therapist. If you’re used to a regular pummelling you’ll miss it in [...]
Pregnant Pauses is a new, short, series on the blog. I've been trying to take the advice of people who call the first pregnancy 'the princess pregnancy', and get in as much pampering as possible! So if you're pregnant, have a friend or wife or colleague who is, and would like to treat them - here are [...]
