Thalidomide survivors secure further political support on anniversary of drug withdrawal
‘My mother passed away without an apology. She fought all her life for me to get recognition,’ campaigner says
Pregnancy
Stories related to pregnancy
Epilepsy and pregnancy: ‘In the delivery room, I handed her to my husband and I immediately took a seizure’
Help is now available for women with epilepsy to manage pregnancy and early motherhood
Is it safe to take paracetamol during pregnancy or not?
Recent controversial comments by Donald Trump and others have – at best – overstated any links between paracetamol use and rising autism diagnoses
New STI survey raises ‘concerning’ trends among young Irish people
Significant minority believe the Pill protects against STIs, survey by HSE reveals
When a word like ‘ginger’ is hissed at you with malice your whole life, it takes on its own meaning
Very close to birth, a woman asked me with a devilish smile what I would do if the child had red hair
Rise in births to mothers over 40: drivers, risks and mitigation
Most such pregnancies proceed smoothly, an obstetrician says, and there are steps expectant mothers can take to reduce risks
Florence + the Machine: Everybody Scream review – A fantastically eerie album informed by personal trauma
Florence Welch emerges from a hurricane of angst with perhaps her finest and certainly her stormiest record to date
In hospital for my miscarriage surgery, I waited with two women checking in to give birth
There is compassion in good design. You wouldn’t have a wedding planner and an undertaker share a reception
Should home births be made more freely available? An obstetrician and a doula debate
A recent HSE audit recommended that no-one who lived more than 30 minutes’ blue light distance from a maternity unit should be allowed to have a home birth
How did Offaly become one of the top breastfeeding counties in Ireland?
Breastfeeding rates for three-month-old babies in Offaly have moved from being one of the lowest in the country to one of the highest
Dr Suzanne Crowe on losing her baby daughter: ‘We held Beatrice together until her heartbeat faded away’
The president of the Irish Medical Council explains how the way she sees life and death has been changed by the patients she has encountered - and the loss of her own child
Parents of children with Down syndrome: ‘It teaches you to be a better person’
Bernie and Crohan O’Kennedy could not conceive a baby naturally. Their daughter Pippa, ‘a long-awaited miracle’, arrived in July 2023
Fertility treatment and the workplace: ‘It’s a hugely personal thing to have to say’
Workplace issues ‘one of the biggest challenges’ for those undergoing IVF
Ireland far behind other countries for IVF genetic testing, doctors and advocates say
While some procedures in the UK may be ‘ethically questionable’, they have allowed for serious genetic conditions to be weeded out of babies’ DNA
Senator shows Seanad picture of her seven-week scan as ‘only evidence’ pregnancy existed
Several politicians shared their experience of miscarriage in debate over leave for pregnancy loss
Mother whose baby died five days after birth satisfied ‘fair and just process’ followed with second inquest
Claire Cullen secures evidence about concerns over equipment used in son Aaron’s resuscitation in 2016
New inquest opens into baby’s death five days after birth at Midland Regional Hospital
Aaron Cullen died at Coombe Hospital after emergency Caesarean section in Portlaoise
Woman who suffered six miscarriages says employers’ response ranged from empathy to pressure to return to work
Labour Party criticises delay to proposals to introduce leave for pregnancy loss
An ode to the group chat, a lifeline for new mums
We mourn the loss of the ‘village’ in modern times, but I think the village begins elsewhere these days
Better mental health support needed for women after giving birth says midwifery professor
TCD academic says ending postnatal care six weeks after birth means women struggling with potentially serious issues are falling through the cracks
Low iron in pregnancy linked to newborn heart disease in ‘gamechanger’ discovery
More than a third of pregnant women globally are thought to have anaemia
Supporting new mothers: ‘Crises should not be the trigger for postnatal care’
New campaign Year of Care aims to highlight the particular needs that arise in the first year of motherhood
Charlie Murphy: ‘IVF felt like I was at the casino and throwing the dice’
After five ‘gruelling’ rounds of IVF, the Safe Harbor actor is enjoying being an expectant mother
I’d been insured for just one week when I crashed into a shiny black BMW
I was seven months pregnant at this point, which might seem a poor time to start learning to drive
Contraceptive concerns: ‘When I came off the pill, everything became so much better’
More and more women are turning away from the pill, as worries grow around side-effects, stoked by misinformation on social media
‘Mother’ and ‘Mammy’ were words that meant only loss etched on a headstone - until they applied to me
Becoming a mother having lost a mother added a layer of complexity I didn’t expect until the baby was in my arms, and I felt something inside me crack open
‘I was 34 and all my friends were having kids... I was like: what am I waiting for?’
From going it alone to fostering, and exhaustive rounds of IVF, women share their unusual journeys in motherhood
Even the word ‘miscarriage’ seems to suggest the mother is somehow at fault
A taxing cycle of hope and dejection is a routine part of life for so many, playing out quietly in homes and workplaces across the country
Life without children: ‘I’d want the investment my mother had, but I don’t have it in me. I don’t have the grá for it’
Women who choose not to have children still find themselves existing in a society that undermines them - but the tide is turning
Woman who lost baby at Portiuncula hospital calls for review to be expanded
Galway woman Elizabeth O’Reilly calls for explanation for pre-natal death of daughter Bláithín
Scannal: Savita review – Heartbreaking chronicle of the medieval essence at heart of Irish healthcare system
Television: Sensitive and wrenching documentary series recounts the death of Savita Halappanavar after she suffered a miscarriage 17 weeks into her pregnancy
I went for a 13-week appointment and experienced the deafening agony of the silent sonogram
When you are accustomed to a national fluency in the language of grief, miscarriage can be desperately lonely
Baby loss: If they had said to me, ‘you can keep him in there forever’, I would have done it
For Gill Lee, October will always be the month she lost her son Danny, in her sixth month of pregnancy
The ‘gender disappointment’ taboo: ‘That’s it, I’m never going to have a little girl’
Parenting taboos: Experiencing gender disappointment is understandable, and parents shouldn’t feel guilty for having those feelings, says expert
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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