A Week in the News - 24th May 2013

This week's news has been dominated by the tragic events in Woolwich, London which saw a serving soldier brutally murdered as he walked the streets. With such terrible events occurring it's clearly a week when everyone's heads have been turned in a completely different direction to normal and of course our thoughts are with the family of Lee Rigby.

Despite the events in London, this has still been an interesting week for news in the world of pregnancy and babies so lets focus on the news stories that have caught our eye.

Iodine, PND and Smoke

In an interesting story, published across a variety of sources, including The Telegraph we were told that iodine is a vital part of a pregnant woman's diet and intake should be increased. This sounds like a logical thing to do, and as long as you gain it from the correct sources then it seems to be good for you and your baby. Many of the sources were claiming that drinking milk would increase the IQ of your child, although The Daily Mail decided to go with the rather sensationalised, drinking organic milk will lower IQ! Clearly increasing intake of iodine is a good idea if we want to have intelligent children, so get down the shops and buy some fish or dairy products - so long as you maintain a balanced diet.

The Telegraph also published a story about a simple blood test that could predict whether or not you will have PND. This is something that could revolutionise the treatment of PND and enable women to be treated early and efficiently for a problem which should be dealt with. With such knowledge care could be offered both during and after pregnancy and this could be a key development. It will be interesting to see whether or not this test makes it way into surgeries across the country.

To go along with its normal raft of celebrity gossip the Mail have published a story claiming that babies who are passive smokers are more likely to become aggressive adults, an interesting theory. Whilst this may be the case the study which the article focused on doesn't seem very scientific, and I'm sure many theories could have been constructed from this sample.

Teen Pregnancy, Cot Death and a new Rooney

An article in The Guardian this week claimed that teen pregnancies would not be stopped by shaming young mothers. This makes sense to me, it is something that should be solved with education rather than condemnation. With the correct education in our schools on relationships and sex perhaps we could all develop a sense of how certain things can completely change our lives, and whether or not we are ready for them. Whether than simply be a new job, or in this case a baby. This article was in reaction to a campaign featuring the hashtag #noteenpreg. Obviously it's a choice we all make, and some teenagers will want to become mothers younger than other people, but this shouldn't stop us educating our children and ensuring they have the knowledge to make proper judgements on such situations.

The Telegraph picked up on a study published in the BMJ which focuses on the the risk of cot death when sharing a bed with your baby. We have also blogged on this today over on Babies.co.uk. It's clear that cot death, or SIDS, is something that we should do our utmost to avoid. So following the guidelines from this journal surely makes sense? Some parents will feel very strongly debating both sides of the argument, but from a neutral point of view I think I would do all I could to ensure the safety of my child.

On a lighter note Wayne and Coleen Rooney were proud parents once again this week following the birth of their second son, Klay. A rather unique pick it has to be said, and in fact our very own Siobhan was asked onto the BBC Breakfast sofa to discuss it!

As always, let us know if you see anything that catches your eye, and we'll see you this time next week with another round up of the news!

About the author

James Brighton

Since 2011 James has been in charge of working with and organising all our writers to put together Pregnancy.co.uk and Babies.co.uk. Anna, his girlfriend, knows he will be an encyclopaedia of knowledge if she ever falls pregnant!

Click here to read my full biography.

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