Semantic Polarities and Psychopathologies in the Family – review

It may have an unlovely title, but Tim Parks promises this rigorous book will offer you a liberating way of thinking about every family, including your own

My battle with motor neurone disease – Neil Platt’s last interview

Neil Platt's battle with MND is the subject of a new film, I Am Breathing. In the last interview he gave before he died in 2009, published here for the first time, he describes his daily struggle

Maternity wards close 1,000 times a year to expectant mothers, figures show

Shortage of midwives and beds resulting in women being forced to travel up to 65 miles to other wards or to give birth at home

I’m beginning to waver on the sex ban

I said no sex to my husband until he goes back to his AA meetings. It feels ridiculous, but what will it mean if I break it?

I am silenced by the tyranny of impending motherhood

Tanya Gold: Women whose response to their pregnancy is more complex than the sanctioned gratitude are treated with suspicion

Pregnant women deserve more than this infantile advice

Catherine Bennett: A new warning of the unproved risks of everyday objects to a foetus is alarmist. It is best ignored

Bedtime blues: how to get children to sleep

One in five parents think their children are not sleeping well enough. Jon Henley meets Professor Paul Gringras, a sleep disorder specialist, who explains the importance of a good routine and how to achieve it

At a family support meeting, I spot a man I find attractive

I start to think all sorts of inappropriate things about the man who looks like a young Jeff Bridges. What would he look like naked?

Pregnancy: what and what not to do

Should you eat for two – and why is chocolate mousse not allowed? Dr Bashir Qureshi answers some key questions

Bedtime stories: Readers share their sleeping wisdom

From building a 'pillow fortress' to attaching golf balls to your partner's back, how some of you try to get a good night's sleep