CatherineMom's Blog

Have you heard of the latest birthing trend? A ‘lotus birth’ involves leaving the placenta attached to the baby until it falls off naturally and this practice has attracted a growing number of converts. While advocates of the method believe it has physical and emotional benefits for the newborn, obstetricians have expressed their concerns, warning that it could lead to infection and even death...

Caffeine could be preventing your child’s brain from developing properly. Swiss scientists say caffeine present in fizzy drinks and coffee are preventing adolescents from falling into a deep sleep – an incredibly important time for brain development. With teens’ caffeine consumption rising 70% in just 30 years, there are worries about the effects of caffeinated drinks on teens, with problems...

Parents and pupils face school disruption from next week as teachers finalise plans to put a ban on meetings outside school hours. The move is one part of ASTI’s plan for industrial action and this will have a particular impact on Junior and Leaving Cert students. ASTI members will pull out of its previous deal to work an extra 33 hours a year and hold parent-teacher meetings outside of working...

A New York hospital has decided to put antenatal classes online for expectant mothers. The move to create online tutorials came after the hospital noticed a drop in the number of women turning up to classes. A US parenting charity says the online tutorials will put parents at a disadvantage, while the hospital believes it will open up important information to more mothers-to-be. What do you think...

Irish children are less likely to smoke or drink alcohol than they were in the late 1990s. The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study found 12% of Irish children were smoking in 2010 compare to 21% in 1998. Of this 12%, almost half had started by the age of 13 or younger, down 11% on previous years. 28% of youngsters reported being drunk, down 1% from 1998 figures, while 8% admitted using...

Ever wonder why you have an urge to gobble up any baby you come across? Scientists have discovered that the smell of a baby actually excites women in the same way an addict is excited by drugs. Newborns give off a chemical that triggers the same reward circuits in a woman’s brain that are triggered when she’s eating something nice. It’s nature’s way of forming a bond between mother and...

Cork University Hospital has opened Ireland’s first centre for perinatal research. The centre will study complications in pregnant women and newborns after receiving €13.6 million in funding from the State and industry. Screening can help doctors to intervene early to prevent injuries caused by issues such as oxygen deprivation. The first clinical trials at the centre will start next month to...

A British MP for Dagenham & Rainham has suggested that parents should lose their child benefit if they refuse to give their child the MMR vaccine. The measure, which is already in place in Australia, was suggested by Labour MP Jon Cruddas in response to figures that show uptake of the vaccine has dropped to dangerously low levels in some areas. Earlier this year, more than 1,000 people caught...

A British mother is criticising a taxi driver for charging her a cleaning fee after she gave birth in his cab. Jenny Larkin started giving birth when the driver arrived at the maternity unit and midwives were forced to deliver the baby in the front of his car. The driver presented her with a valet bill for £40 two days later, which Miss Larkin says is unfair as they paid the £16 fare and the...

Young children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to be obese and have poorer diets than their advantaged counterparts. The latest report from the Growing Up in Ireland study found that a gap began to appear in the health of children from different social classes before they reached the age of three. 9% of children living with parents who never worked were obese, compared with 5% of...