Home birth? No thanks, hospital labour ward gets my vote

Birth is the worst possible area in which any health service can skimp.

Britain's booming birth-rate is colliding with a shortage of mid-wives Photo: GETTY IMAGES

By Jenny McCartney

The women of Britain are being cordially invited to give birth at home. Hospital maternity wards are “not necessarily the safer option”, said a report last week by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Stark warning on fertility for older women

Older women are today given a stark warning of the risks they face in delaying motherhood.

IVF cannot fully compensate for the loss of fertility in ageing, new research warns. Photo: GETTY

By Martin Beckford

An academic journal article states that “IVF cannot compensate for delays in childbearing” because of the biological effects of ageing.

Lifecoach: I get cramp every time I go swimming

CRAMPING MY STYLE

Q I always get a cramp in my right foot when I go swimming. It can’t be my technique, because it starts as soon as I get into the water. What is it?

'Posh’ versus 'Push’ childbirth

Victoria Beckham has had her fourth C-section. Was it one too many?

By Victoria Lambert

So how many C-sections is too many? When Victoria Beckham proved that she was once again too Posh to push with the safe arrival of baby Harper Seven last week, her fourth child delivered by Caesarean, you could probably hear the cries of horror from the moon.

A shedload of pills to combat old age

Why is everyone over a certain age expected to be on medication?

By James Lefanu

In a telling commentary on our times, Mr Andrew Brain from south London, now in his eighties, writes to tell how his family doctor, the practice nurse and an optician have each on separate occasions expressed the same astonishment (even indignation) on reviewing his medical records, “But Mr Brain, you are not on any medication!”

When patients take pills for one illness, it can have a knock-on effect on their health

Give 'bingo wings' the big heave-ho

Who wouldn’t want upper arms like Michelle Obama’s for summer?

No cover-up: Michelle Obama reveals her toned upper arms Photo: REUTERS

By Matthew Barbour

If there is one part of the anatomy that gives most grief at the time of year when British women remove their cardigans, it is the upper arms. So any cream that promises an end to “bingo wings” is bound to attract interest. Called Arm Sculpt by Rodial, it costs an eye-watering £60 a jar.

“Bingo wings are caused by a combination of saggy skin that has lost its elasticity, flabby triceps muscles at the back of the arms and simply being overweight,” says Justin Way, gym manager and personal trainer for Pure Gym (puregym.com).