The push for better births

With no major advances in safer childbirth for 50 years, doctors are calling for more properly funded research. By Carol Davis

Should we be worried about early puberty?

Why are girls now regularly starting puberty aged eight and nine? And how easy is it to cope at primary school? Joanna Moorhead reports

Clashing realities of cutting the deficit

Michael White: As the government is quickly discovering, the money it tries to claw back with one hand it is often forced to spend with the other

Lack of vital drugs could put premature babies at risk, top doctor warns

Consultant obstetrician says NHS has had supply problems with medication used to boost lung growth

Health insurers force children into the ranks of the uninsured

Seema Jilani: The modest measures imposed by healthcare reform have provoked a fierce defence of profit ahead of people's wellbeing

Antenatal classes could be held in schools

National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence say the US-style sessions would help teen mothers engage more with NHS services

Arabella Weir: I weighed my parents’ love on the bathroom scales

'I soon learned never to express hunger around them and to eat in secret, thereby developing an inextricable emotional link between what I ate and my ability to be loved'

My week: Scott Haines, drug and alcohol worker

Scott Haines on training counsellors, working on a needle exchange project and trying to get a young binge drinker to communicate with his parents

Be a better parent – and improve your child’s mental health

Parents developing nurturing skills on pilot course report big drop in behavioural problems among their children, says Bibi van der Zee

Why our children need to get outside and engage with nature

More and more children today have less and less contact with the natural world. And this is having a huge impact on their health and development