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Pregnant diets, organ donation lessons, and why the ‘riots generation’ needs better parenting

Pregnant women have been warned not to eat for two. A study, conducted by researchers at Queen Mary University, found that women who followed a calorie-controlled diet to minimise weight gain during pregnancy were less likely to suffer pre-eclampsia.

The study also found that the risk of gestational diabetes was 60% lower and the risk of premature birth reduced by 32%.

The findings contradict current NICE guidelines which say: ‘Dieting during pregnancy is not recommended as it may harm the health of the unborn child.'

 

Elsewhere, the news focuses on new mums, warning that the failure to treat mothers with postnatal depression could have created the ‘riots generation'. A new charity, Parent-Infant Partnership UK, has been formed to highlight the psychological problems experienced by mothers after birth. Their research shows that a failure to help these mothers bond with their babies can stunt the development of children's brains. 

Andrea Leadsom, the Tory MP who founded the charity, said: ‘At the core of the riots is a group of young people who really don't get it - perhaps they haven't really learnt to empathise and realise this is going to cause pain to someone else.'

 

And finally, a father who lost his son to leukaemia is calling for lessons on organ donation in schools.   Keith Sudbury, whose son Adrian died aged 27, has spent year's campaigning for ‘Adrian's law' which would see lessons to raise awareness about organ donations in students over 16.

Young people are far more likely to be selected as a match for a stem cell donation, but 18-30 year olds only make up 12% of the donor register. Mr Sudbury said: ‘It's a no brainer really. The more you educate people, the more people will join the register, the more matches you have and the more lives are saved.'