News

Parental guilt
The time spent in the boardroom seems to have had an adverse affect on the family home according to recent research. Over half of working parents in the UK feel guilty about the lack of time spent playing with their children, and a quarter find it hard to switch off from the office when they get home.

Parents would like to spend more time with their children, but stress, a lack of time and energy have all been cited as reasons as to why they don’t play with their children more often. This is coupled with their child’s preference for watching television or playing on their computer.

“For working parents, it is a real struggle to find quality time to play and have fun with your children. There is always too much to do, not enough time to do it and definitely never enough mum or dad to go round” says parent coach, author and chief executive of The Parent Coach Academy, Lorraine Thomas. “Most working mums and dads say they are desperate to be fun parents but because of the stressful demands of combining family and career they end up as frantic parents instead and ultimately end up feeling guilty.”

It’s not all bad news though, when parents make time to play with their children they find it enjoyable, with almost half describing it as fun. So it’s high time we put down the BlackBerry and picked up the Crayola!

Get splashing!
Tommy’s, the leading pregnancy research charity, annual fundraiser, Splashathon, is coming to a pool near you this summer. It’s a great idea for mums wanting to get their little ones wet and have a fun time splashing around whilst raising valuable sponsorship money for Tommy’s research and health campaigns.

For more on the fundraiser, visit www.splashathon.org.

Numbers game
• 671,058 – the number of live births in England in 2009.
• 29.4 – average age of women giving birth in the UK.
• 10 – the number of pounds the average woman will drop after delivering her baby, placenta and umbilical cord.
• 15,400 – the number of children between three and 16 that will develop asthma due to secondhand smoke.

Sunshine baby
Contrary to earlier research, which claimed that excessive vitamin D intake could lead to the development of rickets, a recent study by a team of researchers in the University of South Carolina has pointed to the positives in the increased consumption of the sunshine vitamin. According to research the vitamin can prevent complications during pregnancy, can lessen the risk of giving birth prematurely and also of developing gestational diabetes.

Lead researcher on the project, Dr Carol Wagner, suggested that pregnant women should consume 1000mg of the vitamin. Expectant mums can soak up the vitamin with 15 minutes of sunlight exposure (don’t forget your sunscreen!), by eating eggs and cereals, as well as by taking vitamin D supplements.

Parenting the parents
A poll commissioned by National Family Week, the UK’s biggest celebration of family life, explored the perceptions of kids and parents and the issues facing the modern family in the UK.

Astoundingly children seemed to have a better idea of what parenting should be about than
their parents! The most important aspects of parenting differ greatly from a child’s perspective to an adult’s – for example, children placed being a role model as their parent’s greatest priority, while parents generally underestimated it. The poll also highlighted the fact that children are more committed to traditional family values than their parents!

Dental care during pregnancy
An article in General Dentistry, the clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry recently reported that dental care during pregnancy is essential for combating the adverse effects of oral disease by treating the dental findings that are common during pregnancy, including gingivitis, a build-up of plaque that causes gum inflammation, which can lead to a more serious gum disease called periodontitis. So remember to take advantage of the free dental care you’re entitled to during pregnancy!

By popular choice
Online community websites, forums and message boards all have a dramatic influence on driving product purchases in women, according to new research on digital shopping by iVillage and SheSpeaks.

Women are more likely to look for a product after seeing a review on a message board or community forum. While 77 per cent are likely to look for a product, 67 per cent are also likely to make a purchase as a result of reading about it online.

Social network sites, like Facebook and Twitter, may act as communication tools for women, but online reviews are a much more powerful driving force for purchase. Meaning that more are now looking toward the advice and experiences of peers – a very wise decision!

Just an old wives’ tale
Instead of proven medical research, people in the UK are still turning to old wives’ tales, according to The Daily Telegraph who compiled a list of popular myths that the public still believed.

Making number 16 on the list was how an expectant mum carried her baby – if she carries high it will be a girl and a boy if she carries low, with 15 per cent of parents believing this to be the case. Also making the top 20 was that pregnant women should eat for two!

The study found that 72 per cent said they would pass on tales that came from their parents or grandparents to their own children.

Teen pregnancy rate drops
According to new figures from the Office of National Statistics, the rate of teenage pregnancy in England and Wales has fallen by almost four per cent. Over 41,000 women under 18 fell pregnant in 2008, down 3.9 per cent from 2007. According to the data from the ONS, for every 1000 girls between 15 and 17 in England and Wales, there were just over 40 pregnancies.

Daddy daycare
In ten years the number of dads staying home to care for their children in the UK has risen ten-fold. New research conducted by Aviva has revealed that as more women are becoming the breadwinners and earning more than their partner, the amount of stay-at-home dads is steadily rising – 16 per cent of women with dependent children are now earning more than their significant other. On a very positive note, fathers seem to be enjoying their new role – three-quarters of men who are stay-at-home parents said they felt lucky to be spending time with their children, while 29 per cent found looking after children more rewarding than going out to work. The study also found that in 85 per cent of households with dependent children, at least one parent had reduced their hours or given up work altogether after having children. In one in three cases this was due to the cost of childcare.

Travel truancy
Every parent knows that travelling during the holiday season will mean far higher prices, as when school is out, prices go up. A significant amount of parents (44 per cent) are now taking their children on trips during the school term, according to research by Tesco Bank. The majority of the parents who holiday during school term are doing so due to financial constraints as they can’t afford the inflated prices offered during school breaks. Just over one-fifth of parents don’t believe that this time away impacts adversely on their child’s education, but local schools and education authorities are trying to crack down on this phenomenon. The increase in the cost of holidaying outside of term-time clearly puts significant pressure on parents and the fall in kids go free offers also has a bearing on the so-called travel truancy – over half of those surveyed (56 per cent) didn’t get any reduction on their last family holiday.

Did you know?
• It can take up to six weeks for your uterus to contract back to its original size.
• Many women experience a sudden onset of rapid hair loss two to four months after giving birth.
• Eating a healthy diet that is rich in B vitamins and protein will help make your hair look and feel healthier until hair loss returns to normal.
• It is a woman’s right to breastfeed at any time or place in the UK.
• The time British parents spent on childcare each day more than trebled between 1975 and 2000.