Shopping vouchers ‘most effective’ way to help pregnant women stop smoking

One-fifth kicked the habit before giving birth when receiving financial incentives in a Cambridge university study, more than twice the rate using traditional services

The truth about ‘miracle foods’ – from chia seeds to coconut oil

Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, dandruff… can these things really be cured, or at least prevented, by what we eat?

Doctors’ new prescription: ‘Don’t just exercise, do it outside’

In the latest battle against obesity, doctors prescribe exercise – outdoors. Will the green-prescriptions movement take off?

Phthalates are everywhere, and the health risks are worrying. How bad are they really?

Phthalates are everywhere, and a tidal wave of new research has documented their wide-ranging negative health impacts, but what are the real risks?

Can my child’s peanut allergy be cured?

Luisa Dillner: Researchers think they may have found a key to a cure for this potentially life-threatening condition. For now, though, it’s imperative that parents continue to follow recommended guidelines

Partners can worsen childbirth pains for the intimacy-averse, study finds

Psychologists find that women who need less closeness in their relationships feel more pain when accompanied by their partner

Prenatal blueprints give an early glimpse of a baby’s developing brain

Innovative research is allowing us to see neural activity in a baby’s brain as it develops inside the womb, writes Vaughan Bell

Bad luck, bad journalism and cancer rates

GrrlScientist: Please, journalists, get a clue before you write about science

Better care urged for pregnant women with mental health problems – study

Deaths from indirect causes such as suicide have remained constant despite overall fall in maternal mortality rate

You can’t detox your body. It’s a myth. So how do you get healthy?

There’s no such thing as ‘detoxing’. In medical terms, it’s a nonsense. Diet and exercise is the only way to get healthy. But which of the latest fad regimes can really make a difference? We look at the facts