Family planning: how Covid-19 has placed huge strains on all stages of surrogacy

Bringing a child into the world is a big decision. But now? With a surrogate and a travel ban? Could it be more complicated, asks Nicole Mowbray

Candice Brathwaite: ‘I’m at the forefront of a discussion that will save women’s lives’

A horrifying experience after the birth of her daughter set the blogger on a mission to make motherhood more inclusive

​Lockdown is straining so many relationships. ​A lot of people need help

Romantic and family ties are facing new kinds of challenges. Maybe there’s something the state can do, says Observer chief leader writer Sonia Sodha

Would you dare to dye your partner’s hair?

As grey roots appear, imagine the plight of a wary partner asked to stand in for the experts… A cautionary tale

Inferno; What Have I Done? – fearless accounts of postpartum psychosis

Catherine Cho and Laura Dockrill are painfully honest about the horrors they experienced as new mothers in the grip of a terrible illness

This week I discovered the two questions that can unlock a snapshot of someone’s life

I have joined my club, West Brom, in calling up our older season ticket holders to see how they are getting on. It is a fascinating and moving experience, writes Guardian columnist Adrian Chiles

‘Social mothers’: the women who helped a Brazilian city halve its child death rate

Sobral had one of Brazil’s highest infant mortality rates, but a groundbreaking health scheme has drastically reduced its number of child deaths

How do I know the world has turned upside down? My football ground is now a maternity clinic

West Brom has been given over to postnatal care – and it turns out it’s a perfect fit. This season, for the first time, it’s babies rather than fans who are doing the crying

I’m a GP who got coronavirus because I had no PPE. I feel guilty but also angry

We were left unprotected and felt like we were going into a battlefield. I don’t think our profession will ever be the same