Mum Star

One-time leader of the Conservatives whilst they were in opposition and current Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has been in the news this week.  You may recall that he looks like one of the mice from Pinky and the Brain.  You may also remember that he gave a speech to the Tory party conference way back when he was 15, perhaps indicating that his was not a normal teenhood.

Anyway, the latest hoo-ha is about his personal aide resigning because of allegations in the press and on the internet that the aide and Hague were having an affair, made all the more scandalous apparently because the aide is a bloke.  Hague has released a statement denying having any ‘improper’ relationship with the aide and insists that his marriage is on firm ground.

He revealed that his wife, Ffion, had suffered a number of miscarriages as they tried to start a family.

The aide, Christopher Myers, quit his post as special adviser, citing the pressure put on his family by media inquiries into the allegations.

Hague went into great detail about how secure his marriage is.  He made it clear that he and his wife even have sex, by referring to their attempts to conceive.  “I have made no secret of the fact that Ffion and I would love to start a family. For many years this has been our goal. Sadly this has proved more difficult for us than for most couples” he said.

“Yesterday, I made a very personal statement, which was not an easy thing to do. I am not going to expand on that today.

“My wife and I really felt we had had enough of the circulation of untrue allegations, particularly on the internet, and at some point you have to speak out about that and put the record straight.”

Apparently the rumours about Hague and his aide came from Hague’s decision to make Mr Myers, 25, a special adviser, and it was also claimed they shared hotel rooms during the General Election campaign when Mr Myers acted as Mr Hague’s driver.

Mr Hague said on Tuesday that any suggestion that the relationship was other than professional “is wholly inaccurate and unfounded”.

He added: “We wish everyone to know we are very happily married.” Doth he protest too much?

Research by the University of Illinois claims that babies need omega-3s, and the best way for them to get those is for us parents to encourage them to develop a taste for fish. Oily fish like salmon are believed to be rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids that reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

Susan Brewer, a dietitian, said “First, babies need a lot of the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish for brain, nerve, and eye development, and when they switch from breast milk or formula to solid food, most of them don’t get nearly enough. Second, children’s food preferences are largely developed by the time they’re five, so I urge parents to help their kids develop a taste for seafood early.”

Brewer commented, “It’s not enough for mothers to know that toddlers need fish in their diets. They won’t buy a product unless it also appeals to the eye and the taste buds. Our goal is to deliver maximum nutrition in an entrée that’s aesthetically pleasing, and these studies show that we can do just that.”

Though a newborn infant’s brain is probably 50 percent DHA, babies and toddlers have immature livers and can’t synthesize enough DHA for an appropriate supply to their developing nerve tissues. So, including DHA in the baby’s food to fulfill this requirement might help.

The research was published in the May 2010 issue of the Journal of Food Science.

It seems that Cheryl Cole wants to have a baby, presumably with her boyfriend Derek Hough.

The Girls Aloud star, who just recently returned to the gym this week following her battle with malaria, said that she wants to become a mother. Cheryl said that after recovering from the deadly disease she wants to prioritize her life. She said that she would love to have her first child with Derek if their romance continues to go from strength to strength.

One source went on to say, when Cheryl was cooped up at home after her illness, she realized she is not getting any younger and wants to be a mother sooner rather than later.  Presumably Derek will be willing to oblige but if he’s not ready to be a dad will she go off in search of more fertile pastures?  Or will she do a Jen and get the turkey baster out?

The singer, who has been offered some £500k to pose naked for Playboy, reportedly sees fellow X Factor judge Dannii Minogue as an inspiration after she gave birth to her son Ethan last month while still juggling her career commitments around.

Dancing With the Stars pro Derek has refused to discuss his relationship with the singer. He has stated that it’s personal, and he cannot say anything about their romance.  What a gent.

Although Derek does not want to talk about it, it does appear like Cheryl does. After all, this Girls Aloud star is already telling people she would like to bear his child.

Remember how cold it was last Winter?  Too cold to go out, too snowy to use the cars… well, it seems lots of people stayed in and entertained themselves.  And now health authorities are preparing for a baby boom as all those babies conceived during that time are due this Autumn.

Next month will be nine months since blizzards brought areas of the country to a standstill and midwives are predicting a bumper crop of births.

The tough economic climate is also thought to have contributed to a boom in births as couples opt to stay at home, although that seems a bit stupid: “Hmmm, we can’t afford to go out, so let’s stay in and make a baby – that won’t cost anything, will it!?”.

The birthrate in the UK rose from 12.5 per cent to 12.7 per cent last year, despite the UK still being in recession.

Experts said the difficulty in finding a job was encouraging women to bring forward their plans to have a baby.

The NHS expects a surge in the number of babies born next month, and admitted it would prove an ‘obvious challenge’.

Joy Horner, an independent midwife from Birth Joy, based in Portsmouth, said: ‘We do see a rise in conception rates when there’s been severe weather.’

Baby Dylan was born a girl.  Or at least, that’s what the doctors told his parents.  They named ‘her’ Olivia, bought lots of pink clothes, registered her as female.  Then when she was 5 weeks old, an apologetic consultant called in her parents and told her there had been a mistake and ‘Olivia’ was actually a boy…

Mum Claire Robson, 21, was somewhat surprised to learn that her under-developed 1lb 10oz daughter – still in an incubator after being born 11 weeks prematurely – was a son.

“I just burst into tears. It’s taken a bit of getting used to. But I love Dylan just as much. He’s the same baby.”

At a scan during her pregnancy she’d been told she was expecting a girl; six days later she underwent an emergency Caesarean delivery at Sunderland Royal Hospital.

As the child was born, the new mum asked: “Is it a girl?” Claire said: “The doctor replied, ‘Yes’. From that point onwards everyone kept calling the baby a she. Because Dylan was born so early he wasn’t fully developed – that’s why no one could tell.

“As he got a few weeks older it became apparent. The consultant called us in, told us to sit down and said, ‘Your baby’s actually a boy, not a girl’. We were stunned.”

The mistake was compounded by the baby suffering from a genital abnormality called hypospadias, which is where the opening of the urethra isn’t in the tip, but a bit further down. Dylan will need operations on his penis to correct it but his parents have been assured all will be fine.

They now have a new birth certificate naming Dylan.

Urology expert Dr Geoff Hackett confirmed: “The genitals develop later during pregnancy. When a baby is as small as this one and born so prematurely, it makes it more difficult to be certain.”

Australian mother of twins, Kate Ogg, was told that one of her twins, a little boy, had died at birth. BabyJamie had been born at 27 weeks weighing 2lb, and although his sister Emily had been born successfully, after 20 minutes of trying to revive Jamie, doctors pronounced him dead.

She was allowed time to hold him with her husband; she removed the towel he’d been swaddled in and held him close to her with skin-to-skin contact to say goodbye.  Amazingly, though, after two hours of being hugged, touched and spoken to by his mother, the little boy began showing signs of life: a gasp for air that was dismissed by doctors as a reflex action, but then Mrs Ogg fed him a little breast milk on her finger and he started breathing normally.

‘I thought, “Oh my God, what’s going on”,’ said Mrs Ogg.

‘A short time later he opened his eyes. It was a miracle. Then he held out his hand and grabbed my finger.

‘He opened his eyes and moved his head from side to side. The doctor kept shaking his head saying, “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it”.’

The Australian mother spoke publicly to highlight the importance of skin-to-skin care for sick babies, which is being used at an increasing number of British hospitals.

In most cases, babies are rushed off to intensive care if there is a serious problem during the birth.

But the ‘kangaroo care’ technique, named after the way kangaroos hold their young in a pouch next to their bodies, allows the mother to act as a human incubator to keep babies warm, stimulated and fed.

Pre-term and low birth-weight babies treated with the skin-to-skin method have also been shown to have lower infection rates, less severe illness, improved sleep patterns and are at reduced risk of hypothermia.

‘We knew the doctor wasn’t coming back in, so we called for him again. In the interim, the midwife took some footage and my mother and my sister were taking photos for us.

‘Eventually my husband said, “Go and tell the doctor we weren’t ready to listen to his explanation of how the baby died, can he come and explain it again” – and that’s when he returned.’

In fact, it was two hours before the tiny Jamie received proper medical attention.

In the worse case scenario, Mr and Mrs Ogg would have to take legal action against the hospital and the doctor involved.

‘The midwife actually shot the video of Jamie moving, clearly alive. What the hell was she doing – she should have been running about screaming for help,’ said the friend.

On average, it takes a couple 104  sex sessions to fall pregnant.  That’s based on a typical woman taking six months to conceive her first child, during which she has sex around four times a week.

The study also found one in ten women have been so eager to get pregnant they have called their husband home from work when they were ovulating.

Despite this, 70 per cent of those polled said they wanted their baby to be conceived during a loving and spontaneous sex session, rather than a ’sex on demand’ approach.

The study, carried out among 3,000 mothers was commissioned by family planning brand First Response.

Dr. Mike Smith of First Response said: ”However, for those not trying to conceive it’s very important to remember that many couples may also fall pregnant first time so if you are not trying for a baby please still use the necessary precautions.

‘Trying for a baby is a very exciting time for a couple and many try to have sex at every opportunity in order to get pregnant.’

The study also found two thirds of women conceived much quicker than they expect to.

But while plenty of women were happy to wait for nature to take its course, others were intent on forcing the issue when the need arose.

In fact 10 per cent said they then jumped on their other half as soon as he walked through the door when they felt the time was right.

Nearly a quarter admitted sex often became ‘boring’ when trying to start a family.

One in 20 women said they were so eager to find out the happy news that they did a pregnancy test at work.

Dr. Smith added: ‘It’s an extremely anxious time and many women want to find out whether they are expecting a child as soon as possible.’

Natalie Cassidy, who as we all know is heavily pregnant, has said in a recent magazine interview that she can’t understand Denise Van Outen’s decision to return to work so soon after the birth of her baby.  Van Outen went back to work just two weeks after giving birth, apparently because she wanted ‘to feel normal again’. Great staying power, that woman.

Anyway, Cassidy told New magazine, “I just think, ‘What have you had a child for? Having a child should be your job.  I’m very old-fashioned. It’s my mum coming out in me.”

What do you reckon?  For what it’s worth, I agree with Cassidy (for once).  The role of a mother is a blooming hard one, and by returning to ‘real’ work after just 2 weeks it seems that the motherhood job is undermined somewhat.  Not everyone wants to be barefoot in the kitchen until their little one starts university, and that’s fair enough.  But giving just two weeks of your undivided attention to your new baby seems a tad mean.  It seems that this generation is the first generation to have full-time working mums as the norm.  One only has to look round local playgrounds to see how many children are being looked after by grandmas, and those are the ones who aren’t placed in nurseries.  What will happen to those children’s children?  Their grandmas (today’s working mums) will be at work…

Still, it’s one thing to hold views about working vs staying at home, and quite another to blast another mum’s choices so personally in a magazine article.  Watch this space for Van Outen’s response!