Your Health

A baby enjoys skin-to-skin time after childbirth

Natural births better for babies

Danielle Teutsch and Kate Benson Babies born by caesarean section are more vulnerable to asthma, allergies and infection as they miss out on receiving their mothers' good bacteria during birth, a scientist says.

Birth: a woman's right to decide?

Justine Caines The maternity reforms had the ability to place women as the focus of care, rather than the current practice of meeting the needs of organisations and practitioners first.

Your birth choices

The following information is designed to assist you with making choices about the type of care you would like throughout your pregnancy, and how you would like to give birth to your baby.

Midwife home birth as safe as hospital, says study

Louise Hall Home birth assisted by a trained midwife is just as safe for low-risk mothers and their babies as a delivery led by a midwife in hospital, a study of more than half a million women has found.

Using acupuncture to prepare for birth

Rebecca Mar Young Acupuncturist Rebecca Mar Young, who focuses on pregnancy, explains how acupuncture can help you prepare for birth.

Care for children begins before birth

Julie Robotham Regular assessments to ensure the health of children would begin before birth and continue until age eight, under a proposal to create the first national program for early childhood health.

Fears for mothers as hospitals up the ante for birth classes

Natasha Wallace The cost of antenatal classes should be means-tested and made uniform across all hospitals, according to the Australian College of Midwives.

Home birth program that delivers

Kate Benson It took Bailey Mannion only 75 minutes to slip calmly into the world, amid the comforts of his own loungeroom, unaware he was quietly making history.

Designing principles at birth of a new era

Advances in gene technology are creating a host of ethical dilemmas, writes Rachel Browne. Genetic screening of human embryos may eventually eradicate inherited diseases ranging from breast cancer to...

Many still believe depression comes with motherhood

Jennie Curtin Most people think depression is a ''normal'' part of pregnancy and women do not need treatment, according to a survey by the mental health group beyondblue.

Blood worth banking on, say parents

Jill Stark More people want to be able to store their baby's umbilical cord blood, believing it could one day be a lifesaver. .

Birth rights

John van Tiggelen In many countries, home births are commonplace - and generally regarded as safe. So why in Australia, where such births are rare, is the Government discouraging the practice? John van Tiggelen...

Angry mums against midwife legislation

Kate Dennehy A group of angry mothers and mothers-to-be have gathered in Brisbane to discuss tactics to overturn a Federal Government proposal they say will ban home births with a midwife.

Roxon joins mother of birthing battles

Leslie Cannold The Rudd Government's threatened ban on home births is moving closer to reality.

Baby steps as hospitals deliver a helping hand to home-birth push

John Elder Midwives working away from labour wards are to be covered by insurance under a pilot scheme, writes John Elder.

Push against home births

AAP Proposed laws which would stop mothers accessing registered midwives for home births would jeopardise the health of thousands of women and babies, a peak maternity group says.

It's a woman's right to choose how she births

Monica Dux In five months' time, if my pregnancy progresses without complication, I will birth my second child at home, attended by two registered private midwives.

Building resilience in your children

Maggie Dent We hear a lot of talk about resilience in education, particularly when it comes to bullying. But building resilience in children starts much earlier than school age so it is crucial for parents to...