Misbehaving Mums to Be

I've been fascinated by the recent BBC3 Misbehaving Mums to Be series. For those who haven't seen it, each week the programme follows three pregnant girls/women who have habits that could harm their unborn baby - these have included smoking, binging on junk food and under-eating. Specialists midwives work with the mums to be to help them kick their unhealthy addictions.
The image I've found most shocking so far was the girl who balanced a full ashtray on her pregnant bump while explaining that the first thing she does in the morning is reach for her fags. Sadly, in both the programmes I've seen so far the nicotine-addicted mums have found the idea of quitting too much and stopped filming. It's easy to judge - I smoke a bit but have always vowed that the minute I fall pregnant I will quit - but it seems that it's just not that easy. The same goes for the girls who eat unhealthily - they know what they['re putting in their mouths (or not) could damage their child but in practice it takes real willpower to break habits they've had for years.
The midwives featured in the documentaries are so inspiring and so far they've helped most of the girls to make some really positive changes. They don't lecture the mums, they just help them to see how they could be healthier.
One quibble is that the mums to be who agreed to take part in the programme must have been aware they had a problem and had some desire to do something about it, which is half the battle. But hopefully it will inspire others watching to think more carefully about how their choices are affecting their unborn baby, and to realise that help is available.

Surrogacy

Surrogacy has been in the news again since Elton John and David Furnish’s son Zachary was born to a surrogate mum on Christmas Day. Since then we’ve had a few requests from magazines looking for surrogates, or parents who have had children through surrogacy.

It’s a topic that really interests me. I worked with a young woman last year who decided to become a surrogate after watching a documentary about women trying to conceive – she was so moved by their plight she wanted to do something to help.

And I was fascinated by the C4 documentary My Weird and Wonderful Family which aired last year and featured Tony and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and their family. The couple broke new ground when their eldest twins were born to a surrogate in America ten years ago and it was really moving watching their journey as they tried for more babies.

Now the couple are opening a surrogacy centre in Britain to help other hopeful parents through the process.

The issue of surrogacy, whether for gay or straight parents, will no doubt continue to cause debate. But watching the documentary on the Drewitt-Barlow’s it was clear that the couple had created a happy, stable family life for their children. And that, after all, is the most important thing of all.

Every parent's worst nightmare

When Cassie took her sick baby boy to hospital she just wanted doctors to make him better. But instead she and her partner, Wayne, were accused of harming their little boy and he was taken away from them.
That visit to the hospital became the beginning of a year-long nightmare as the couple fought to prove their innocence and get their son back. In their darkest moments they even began to suspect one another.
Doctors finally found that little Cavern was suffering from a rare medical condition which was causing the symptoms. A judge ordered social services to hand the couple their baby back.
Although they’ve got their boy back the pain they felt at losing him for all those months, and being accused of harming him, will never leave them. Cassie came to us because she wanted her story to be heard and for others to know what the couple had been through.
We were only too happy to help and placed her story with The Mirror and in Chat magazine. Cassie was delighted with the coverage and the sensitive way in which her story was told.
View the story as it appeared in The Mirror here:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/life-style/real-life/2010/09/09/each-of-us-feared-the-other-had-beaten-our-baby-115875-22547119/