Lucy Mangan: I’m having a baby
'We've done seven dry runs to the hospital, none of them successful. The satnav, for some reason, refuses to believe such an institution exists'
When the words stopped
Their relationship was steeped in language – he was the brilliant academic, she the poet. Then a stroke left Paul West able to utter only a single syllable and his wife, Diane Ackerman, had to find a new way to keep their love alive
‘It’s weird to be growing a penis inside me’
Two years after tying the knot, Lucy Mangan and her husband, Toryboy, are about to have a baby. Are they ready? Are they heck…
A letter to … my breast surgeon
The letter you always wanted to write
Home birth: ‘What the hell was I thinking?’
There's the blood, the pain, the second thoughts. Are home births an unnecessary trial – or the most rewarding way to have a baby? Amelia Hill joins one woman in labour to find out
This satnav of the labour ward is driving us the wrong way
Annalisa Barbieri: Birth monitors cost the NHS millions, and were never meant to replace a labouring woman's default help: the midwife
When Will I Sleep Through the Night? An A-Z of Babyhood by Eleanor Birne – review
Wit and wisdom inform this lively account of the first year of motherhood. New mum Alice O'Keeffe approves
GPs warned over mistakes in fitting contraceptive implants
Family doctors advised to acquire proper training to avoid errors and damages for unwanted pregnancies
Family life becomes a work of art in NHS waiting room
Kin, an audio project based around interviews with mothers, fathers and their adult children, transforms the mood in the waiting room
Food and class: does what we eat reflect Britain’s social divide?
The received wisdom is that the middle classes eat well and can cook. Poorer people are more likely to be overweight and live on ready meals. But is it really true? Report by Louise Carpenter