Brazenmom

Recent data from the Office for National Statistics states that teenage pregnancy rates in England and Wales have fallen by 13% year on year. The figures show a rate of 40.4 per 1,000 girls: 42, 325 girls under 18 and 7,577 girls under 16 fell pregnant in 2008. Just under half of pregnancies among 15-to-18 year-olds led to an abortion.

In England, the north east has the highest pregnancy rate of 49 per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 17, while the east of England had the lowest rate, at 31.4 per 1,000 girls. Merthyr Tydfil, in Wales and England, has the highest teenage pregnancy rate for 15-17-year-olds, and the lowest rate in Wales was found in Ceredigion with 27.1 per 1,000 girls. Read the rest of this entry »

New York chef and restaurateur Daniel Angerer has turned his wife’s breast milk into cheese. The Manhattan restaurant owner said that his over-stuffed home freezer and his natural cooking instincts made him think of making cheese out of mother’s milk. Angerer then posted the results on his blog: a formula for maple caramelized pumpkin encrusted cheese.

According to the Toronto Star, customers at Angerer’s restaurant Klee have been asking to try the cheese and he has prepared some amus-bouche – canapé of breast-milk cheese with figs and Hungarian pepper although he has no plans to sell it. The New York Post writes that city authorities have told the restaurant not to serve its cheese to customers, whether sold or given away.

The taste of the breast milk cheese is affected by what Angerer’s wife has had to eat: of the two batches he has made thus far, the first tasted salty-sweet and the second was slightly spicy.

The full recipe is on Angerer’s blog. Here are the ingredients:

My Spouse’s Mommy Milk Cheese Making Experiment
(basic recipe using 8 cups of any milk – yields about ½ pound cheese)

4 cups mother’s milk
1½-teaspoon yogurt (must be active cultured yogurt)
1/8-tablet rennet (buy from supermarket, usually located in pudding section)
1 teaspoon sea salt

Source: Guardian.co.uk

New research proves that the more germs a child is exposed to during early childhood, the better their immune system in later life

A recent study completed by researchers at the School of Medicine at the University of California found that being too clean could impair the skin’s ability to heal. The research gives gravitas to the “hygiene hypothesis”, first proposed in the 1980s, which suggests that early childhood exposure to bugs might “prime” the immune system to prevent allergies. It has been used to explain why increasing numbers of children in developed countries, where antibacterial sprays and wipes are common, suffer from allergies such as hay fever and eczema. One in three people in Britain suffer from allergies according to research conducted by the charity Allergy UK has found.

The San Diego-based team of researchers, led by Professor Richard Gallo, discovered that normal bacteria that live on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when we get hurt. These bugs dampen down overactive immune responses which can cause cuts and grazes to swell or lead to rashes. Gallo claims that the common bacterial species, known as staphylococci, which can cause inflammation when under the skin, are “good bacteria” when on the surface, as they can reduce inflammation. By studying mice and human cells, researchers discovered that staphylococci reduce inflammation by making a molecule, called lipoteichoic acid (or LTA), which acted on keratinocytes, the main cell types found in the outer layer of the skin. Read the rest of this entry »

The Jentle Childbirth Foundation has launched a controversial advertising campaign featuring naked pregnant women

With the use of images taken from photographer Joth Shakerley’s forthcoming book Pregnant Women, the campaign aims to highlight the stigmas associated with the public’s perception of pregnancy and childbirth. Jenny Smith, midwife, mother and founder of the Jentle Childbirth Foundation, says pregnancy is often turned into a process rather than a celebration of motherhood and that there is still a stigma attached to breastfeeding. Read the rest of this entry »

Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie is reportedly travelling to Serbia to have his injured leg treated with placental fluid

The Holland forward damaged the ligaments in his right ankle during Saturday’s friendly against Italy and is likely to be out of action for six weeks according to Arsenal FC. Van Persie has since returned to London to continue with rehabilitation but has subsequently received consent from Arsenal FC to fly to Serbia to receive alternative treatment. Aiming to recover in a month, Van Persie will meet with female doctor Marijana Kovacevic who previously treated an injury of Danko Lazovic (PSV Eindhoven midfielder). According to Van Persie, Lazovic has been vague about Kovacevic’s methods but claims that treatment involves massage using fluid from a placenta – horse placenta according to sources. Placentas are thought to contain proteins that when rubbed into the skin will reach the damaged ligaments and have a healing effect. Read the rest of this entry »

Experts have voiced concerns about the unchanging high average rate of 24.6% for caesarean sections across England

According to Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb, the current C-section rate is nearly double that recommended by the World Health Organisation. Healthcare professionals have voiced concern over the fact that the figures reveal that women are being subjected to unnecessary medical interventions. Although most caesarean sections are straightforward, the operation is major and bears the potential for serious complications for women and their babies.

NHS Information figures reveal that a third (33.3%) of babies born at London’s Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust are delivered by caesarean section, with nearly half of the caesareans planned rather than an emergency. The Sherwood Forest NHS trust in Nottingham posted the lowest caesarean rate, of 15.8%, in the country – a figure less than half that in the aforementioned London boroughs. The discrepancy emphasises a regional divide between north and south, and informs the supposition that the England’s C-section rate is determined largely by wealthy women dubbed ‘too posh to push’. Read the rest of this entry »

Gordon Brown’s plan to alter the current childcare scheme has been attacked by nine former ministers in a letter to Downing Street

The prime minister was warned that his decision to cut childcare would not stand well with hard-working parents and is likely to result in an untimely loss of support in the runup to the election. The former ministers, including Patricia Hewitt, Estelle Morris, Hilary Armstrong, Beverley Hughes and Caroline Flint, urged the government to reconsider the decision in light of the impact that removing tax relief will have on parents, employers and the childcare sector. Read the rest of this entry »