Do friends make you happier than family?

Friendships are less judgmental and and more likely to be positive. Having good friends can even make you healthier

Global study finds 75% of pregnant women don’t have healthy weight gain

Data from Asia, US and Europe finds 23% do not gain enough weight and more than 50% gain too much, increasing risk of premature birth and caesareans

Can mindfulness reduce fear of labour and postpartum depression?

Anxiety about labour – and what might come afterwards – causes stress for expectant mothers and increases risk in childbirth. But there could be a natural solution

Nervous about speaking to someone touched by serious illness? Here’s my advice

When my husband developed a life-threatening illness, my world fell apart – but I was saved by others’ kindness. Here’s my advice on how to help in this situation

The vital but invisible early lessons that last a lifetime

At the core of a happy, healthy adult is the resilience they learn as a child. Can this be taught, asks psychiatrist Holan Liang

Born to do it? Why pop’s pregnant pause could be coming to an end

As musicians from Rebekka Karijord to Tori Amos begin to explore birth, perhaps pregnancy in music could become less taboo

Modern tribes: the pregnant oversharer

We were only just thinking it might be a good time when, bam, the stick goes blue. Here, I’ll show you… no?

Pregnant women don’t need a blanket ban on drinking. They need the facts

Giving mothers-to-be advice with no scientific basis is patronising and coercive. Women have the right to see the evidence and make their own decisions

Scanxiety: why private baby scans are on the rise

Many pregnant women are paying for extra ultrasounds, for reassurance or for ‘souvenir scans’. But does multiple scanning pose a risk to the unborn child?

‘Truly, madly, deeply alone’ – embracing solitude

After decades surrounded by a happy extended family, Max Riddington now chooses to live alone. Stripped of company and casual support, she wonders: is the solitude a comfort, or will loneliness strike?