Childbirth is as awful as it is magical, thanks to our postnatal ‘care’

Marina Hyde: Giving birth in hospital these days is a hallucinatorily exhausting experience – and the cuts mean it’s about to get even worse

Should pregnant women be encouraged to shun hospital labour wards?

Milli Hill, Ellie Gibson, Joseph Harker: Nice guidelines now suggest that 45% of births are unsuitable for hospital wards but does this chime with out writers’ experiences?

Low-risk pregnant women urged to avoid hospital births

NHS guidance from National Institute for Health and Care Excellence suggests 45% of births ‘unsuitable’ for labour wards

How to avoid more gastric surgery? Five ways we can change our health culture

Sarah Boseley: Prevention is key to limiting the impact of widespread obesity on the NHS, which is why we need a wholesale change in attitude

Doctors call for tougher laws on alcohol abuse to tackle liver disease crisis

The UK is the only country in western Europe except Finland where liver disease has increased over the past three decades

‘I felt as if I had become fear itself’: life after a stroke at 34

Film-maker Lotje Sodderland was 34 when she had a severe stroke, losing the ability to speak, read, write or think coherently. Could she learn to live – and love – with a broken brain?

NHS trusts chasing private patients at expense of waiting lists, warns Labour

Call for cap on private income to be reintroduced amid fears some NHS hospitals are prioritising paying customers

Gaps in mental health care for new mothers cost UK £8bn a year – study

Maternal Mental Health Alliance says NHS would need to spend £337m a year to bring care up to recommended levels

FGM: more than 1,700 women and girls treated by NHS since April

Public health minister heralds data collection on female genital mutilation as ‘major milestone’ on road to ending FGM in the UK

‘Every town needs a sanctuary where people in crisis can go for respite’

Victor Adebowale: My hope for the next 50 years is that we look at health and wellbeing holistically. We need to give equal support to mental, emotional and physical health