Give me an ‘Ow’! Give me an ‘Argh’!

Stuart Jeffries: Is cheerleading dangerous? According to the New York Times, acrobatic manoeuvres such as throwing women (known as "flyers") 20 feet in the air or forming human pyramids have made "knee braces and ice-bags accoutrements as common as mascara" among the US's four million cheerleaders.

The illusion of choice

Dea Birkett: Fertility experts claim to care about wellbeing, but just want to force us to be a certain kind of parent.

While women in the developing world are dying in childbirth, why are we fetishising doing it at home?

Catherine Bennett: God is a psychopath as well as a top designer, who chose to punish women for original sin by tearing up an earlier scheme for pain-free birth. Whatever the reason - divine malice, or the evolutionary conflict between big brains and pelvises tilted for walking upright - the consequences for at least 529,000 women a year are fatal.

Being black in Britain is bad for your mental health

Kwame McKenzie: There is an epidemic of psychotic illness in those of African and Caribbean origin, so why are we doing nothing to stop it?

Solely breastfeeding babies cuts HIV toll

· Doctors urge change in UN advice after study finding· Mixed feeding is shown to be the worst option

Scottish smoking ban hailed as a tremendous success

· One year on, and only one smoker is taken to court · Pressure to raise legal age for buying cigarettes

In the saddle

In the last of our series about smart cycle commutes, we share some insider tips for Newcastle, Oxford and Belfast.

OurChemist

Our Chemist – Health