Pregnancy weigh-ins were stopped in the 90s – and they’re still a bad idea

Yes, talk about healthy diets and weighing if there’s a problem, but calls to make this mandatory are misguided, says freelance journalist Lucy Jones

Midwives call for pregnancy weight targets after study highlights health risks

Eating for two is a myth, say researchers, with weight gain linked to insulin resistance

The state has no right to stop me learning the sex of my unborn child

A new test that reveals a baby’s sex at 10 weeks has, predictably, led to panic about an increase in terminations – as if we need even more anxiety about pregnancy

How I fled a bad marriage in Iran for a new life in London

Cooking Iranian dishes for her new neighbours opened all sorts of doors for Atoosa Sepehr

David Bailey: ‘What I do isn’t work. Bricklaying is work’

The photographer, 80, on sleep, fish and famous friends

What the US can learn from Canada about how to treat moms

I can’t imagine motherhood without Canada’s generous paid maternity leave. It’s time for America to get with the program

Sir Michael Parkinson: ‘It is one of the great mysteries how my 59-year marriage has lasted’

The broadcaster on waking in the night, writing a book about his friend George Best, and how he couldn’t live without music

Express yourself! Celebrity mums lead breast pump boom

Stars’ selfies highlight the growing popularity of breast pumps for mothers balancing pressures of work and childcare

Marcus Engman: ‘I answer emails with one word, like Steve Jobs did’

The head of design at Ikea on 12-hour working days, falling asleep anywhere, and his love of dangerous sports

I’m a paranoid parent – and proud of it

Many of us are having fewer kids, later in life, so overwhelming parental anxiety is not just normal – it makes sense, says Guardian columnist Catherine Shoard