A Week in the News - 7th February 2014

With the Winter Olympics being opened in Sochi this afternoon the gaze of the world has settled on Russia. With companies such as Google openly critical of Russia's attitudes towards the LGBT population, it will prove an interesting few weeks. We've also seen the continuing struggles of people in the UK who have been forced to abandon their homes to flooding. It seems that certain areas of the country, especially Somerset, have been let down it terms of flood defense, and now face months of repairs. Lets have a look at what news caught our eye this week though.

Burns and Schools

Schools have been top of the agenda this week, and whilst it may not be in the immediate minds for parents of babies and very young children, it is of of course something that isn't actually that far around the corner! Children's minister Liz Truss has suggested that schools should open their doors to two year olds by extending their nursery provisions. Obviously this will help parents who want to get back into work, and ensure that the care their child needs is on offer. Can schools extend their provisions to offer such care though?

Clearly Michael Gove is the guy who needs the most attention though, or is that the wrong way about it? He has proposed that school hours should be longer than the average working day, and extend to 10 hours. A blog in the Telegraph wonders how Gove can justify this especially as it will lead to a lot of tired children. With children in school from 9am to 6pm, especially at a young age, it's clear that they will tire, which surely means the extra hours aren't worth it? And who is going to pay for these extra hours too? It seems like these policies are thought of on a whim. I'm sure that teachers will enjoy having an extra 3 hours added onto their day too - it just means all that marking and preparation they have to do in the evenings will extend to even later on, will they also be tired too?

A report in on the BBC site this week looked at the common causes of burns in children - and top of the list were hair straighteners and hot mugs. Hot mugs were by far and away the most common injury, so make sure you keep an eye on them when your children are about. Straighteners need to be watched too, they get hot very quickly! Most of this is simple advice though, but next time you have your straighteners on show just think about where you put them whilst they cool down.

Autism, Drink and 3D Scans

An interesting article in the Independent looks at how autism may develop at birth due to excess salt in the nerves. In most cases the levels of salt in nerves are dramatically reduced after birth due to oxytocin, but in some cases it is suggested that these levels may remain high. This in turn impacts on the brain, and can cause the development of autism. With treatment it could be that the affects of autism could either be stopped or dramatically altered, as long as a baby was treated early. It will be interesting to see if this technique can be used effectively, and whether or not the treatment will be transferable to humans.

Did you drink during your pregnancy? One blogger on the Telegraph site feels like the tables have turned and people now feel bad for judging women who drink during pregnancy. Is this something you have experienced? It is a subject that provokes much discussion, and whilst a glass of wine every now and then may not cause any problems I think we can all agree that there should be control in how much you drink.

Finally this week an article in the Daily Mail looked at how 3D scans are becoming increasingly popular - would you have one? This article looks at how a mum-to-be fell in love with her daughter before she was born because of the 3D scan, is that something you experienced?

See you next week!

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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