One in eight women who give birth are smokers
North-east of England has highest proportion of mothers who smoked, while London has the lowest rates in the UK
Six ways to manage pain in labour
For first-time mothers, the pain that awaits them during labour can be a frightening prospect. Jessica McCallin highlights six ways to manage it
Hungarian home births champion to move from house arrest to jail
Court increases acclaimed midwife Dr Agnes Géreb's punishment for 'negligent malpractice'
Dr Dillner’s health dilemmas: what is the normal length of labour?
Women are taking longer to give birth than they used to, but does it matter?
For one week only, I’m allowed to say it: I get babies
Charlie Brooker: Call me dense or cold or both, but I wasn't anticipating the wave of euphoria I'm experiencing now that I've become a father
My fellow MPs need to know what I have learned from working families
As a former obstetrician, the MP Dan Poulter thought he knew all about the struggles of young families. But visiting them has opened his eyes to new problems
TV review: One Born Every Minute; Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished
Bump, pain, screams, joy – it's the same old story on the labour ward. But what a story, writes Sam Wollaston
Why we can’t get enough of childbirth on TV
Zoe Williams: TV used to shy away from depicting birth. But now Call the Midwife and One Born Every Minute are attracting record ratings. So what's changed? And why now?
I still think about the ‘what ifs’ behind my maternity care
Emma Cook: I am plagued by memories of the care I received from hospital midwives before my emergency caesarean
Stillbirth exhibition reveals a devastating loss
An extraordinary photographic exhibition raises awareness of the UK's shockingly high rate of stillbirth – a subject so taboo that few like to talk of it