BBC NEWS | Health | Stress may 'damage child brains'

BBC NEWS | Health | Stress may 'damage child brains'

Some interesting (though inconclusive) research.

BBC NEWS | Health | Fat toddlers 'risk early puberty'

BBC NEWS | Health | Fat toddlers 'risk early puberty'

Not really of relevance to Oliver (whose weight is spot on for his height in any case at 28lbs), but might be worth keeping in mind if Bumper turns out to be a girl.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Blair unveils welfare reform plan

BBC NEWS | Politics | Blair unveils welfare reform plan

I can see why the government is worrying about this. It needs as many people as possible to be working to support an ageing population.

On the other hand I worry that this puts us on a slippery slope. It may sound quite reasonable to want lone parents of 12 year olds to work, but most of them already do and despite that half the children in poverty have a working parent.

I heard someone from an American think-tank this morning advocating putting lone parents back to work before their child is one year old. That might make good economic sense to a government in the short-term, but I'm yet to be convinced of the social outcomes in years to come.

Unwelcome Sunday reading

Just what we wanted to see as we cheerily popped into Somerfield to pick up some Pain au Chocolat and a paper on our way back from Kids on Sunday!

This comes on the back of other recent plans for maternity care as previously reported in this blog.

There are several related articles at The Independent Online website today.

The headline article is reproduced below for convenience.

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Women's deaths soar in NHS midwives crisis
By Sophie Goodchild, Jonathan Owen and Ian Griggs
Published: 04 March 2007

Record numbers of women are being harmed or dying as a direct result of childbirth in what doctors are labelling a "crisis" in maternity care.

There has been a rise of 21 per cent in deaths of pregnant women in the care of NHS maternity services. Deaths over the past three years now total 391, up one fifth on the comparable period, and 17,000 women have suffered physical harm while on labour wards.

The scale of the maltreatment has led to soaring medical negligence claims from mothers. The bill to the NHS has hit £1bn for the past five years. Two-thirds of the 100 largest payouts by NHS trusts for medical negligence are now to women who have suffered traumatic childbirth experiences, according to figures published this week by the Government.

A survey of nearly 5,000 women's experiences of maternity from the Healthcare Commission, to be published to coincide with Mother's Day later this month, is also expected to highlight a lack of satisfaction among patients with medical care during labour and delivery.

Experts are warning that 10,000 more midwives are needed to prevent a further rise in blunders and deaths. They say there is also a shortage of trained obstetricians, desperately needed now that doctors perform more Caesarean sections, largely because of staff shortages. More than one in five births in Britain are by Caesarean section, a figure significantly higher than World Health Organisation guideline of 15 per cent.

The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, set up to improve healthcare for patients, said that about two-thirds of maternity units either have too few staff or have an "inappropriate" balance of skills.

Professor Jason Gardosi from the NHS's Perinatal Institute, which aims to reduce deaths in childbirth, warned that failings in British maternity care were "severe and endemic" and that substandard medical care was going undetected because of a lack of proper monitoring.

He told The Independent on Sunday: "Staff are doing their best within the confines they are given but in many instances, mothers and babies survive only because they are lucky. You would not allow an aeroplane to fly without a full crew, but midwives have to make do without a full staff. It is little wonder we see so many avoidable deaths."

Figures obtained by this newspaper from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) reveal that over the past three years, 17,676 mothers have been injured on maternity units. Serious cases include women with perforated bowels whose injuries are so severe they have needed temporary colostomies.

The UK now has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in Europe, with 13 deaths per 100,000. Britain ranks below countries including Poland and Hungary, and is above Bulgaria, Bosnia, Belarus, Romania, Armenia and Albania.

The Healthcare Commission is planning a review of maternity services which will be published this summer. Mike Hancock MP said: "There is a real issue here and sadly this is an area where the Government has been neglectful. It isn't just about throwing money at it. It is also about putting proper procedures in place."

Katherine Murphy of the Patients' Association added: "The Government is closing lots of maternity units and making midwives redundant. Now you have healthcare assistants doing the job of senior midwives because it's the cheaper option."

The Department of Health said that giving birth is "safer now than ever before" but admits that for many women pregnancy and childbirth has turned into a medical event.Andrew Lansley, shadow Health Secretary, labelled Labour's approach to maternity care "irresponsible".

He said: "In the last five years, we have seen a huge increase in the number of live births but no increase in the number of midwives. Some mothers can't get the one-to-one midwife care or level of midwife support which should be regarded as basic."

Super Saturday? Too right!

Oliver, "on one" at Dave and Hayley's".

According to the sports writers last Saturday was "Super Saturday" because all the six nations rugby teams played. Well, frankly that wasn't half as super as the Saturday we had to today.

I took Oliver to town and walked him around on his reigns which he loved. We checked his shoe size at Clarks - current shoes fine for a few more weeks. Then he enjoyed a ride on the Merry Go Round in the Mersey Square.



I'll get a better shot next time round...



Drat! Missed him again. Darn this slow camera phone!

After that we visited Dave and Hayley to collect some bike bits from Dave but also to catch up with Lewis who is about 2 months younger than Oliver and his big sister Izzy.

By the time we got home it was early afternoon. But no sooner were we through the door than all three of us trekked down to Sara, Manny and Jack to watch United vs Liverpool. We were all delighted when United (who had failed to dominate the game) won with an injury time goal.

After a trip to the park for Sara, Hayley and the boys it was Fish and Chips for dinner (postponed from last night when Hayley and I went out for dinner with my Mum and Del).

The final hour before bedtime was spent with Oliver in the giggliest of moods, lying on the sofa playing peekaboo or just running round having fun. At one point I noticed him running in and out of the kitchen singing. After a few seconds I realised he was doing the Hokey Cokey! So we jumped up from the sofa and joined in with him, which he loved. After a few minutes of putting in/out and shaking about three out of four limbs he wandered off to play with a puzzle, which was handy as Mummy and Daddy were a bit out of breath!

After he'd gone to bed we chilled out reading the paper and magazines, half watching Casualty.

It may not sound much to some, but that's what I call a super Saturday.

BBC NEWS | Education | Schools to give places by lottery

BBC NEWS | Education | Schools to give places by lottery

Typical isn't it. You push yourself to your physical, emotional and financial limits to buy a home in a nice area, then the government announce that places at the local school are to be allocated by lottery!

What I resent about the coverage of this issue is the pejorative use of the term "privileged" assigned to the parents and children who live near these popular schools. It implies "undeservedly privileged".

So if, like me, you work hard through school, choose a good degree at Univeristy that will get you a steady job (rather than the sexy fun subject you'd enjoy!), and then work hard for 20 years in a competitive fast-moving industry to keep yourself in employment and able to support your family, don't expect people to recognise that you earned the privilege to live in a nice area and send your kids to the local state school.

Perhaps the government secretly want to drive people into private education. It's the logical alternative if you can't get into a decent local state school (provided you can afford it of course). As a kid from a state comprehensive school I have no natural affinity with private schooling, but for the first time in my life I'm starting to sympathise with its attraction.

BBC NEWS | England | West Yorkshire | Heart attack baby back from dead

BBC NEWS | England | West Yorkshire | Heart attack baby back from dead

I can't start to imagine the emotional roller-coaster that family must have experienced that day.

BBC NEWS | UK | Mothers 'face job discrimination'

BBC NEWS | UK | Mothers 'face job discrimination'

Why am I not surprised to read this.

"Mama"

You can learn a lot about Oliver from this video.

Note how he charms his Mummy with his adorable intonation of "Mama".
See how he insists that she acknowledges him saying "Dada", but equally will say Mama when she's saying Dada.
And finally when he has finished his meal he gives us a clear signal (the hand waving) this is the case... and that we can clear up for him. Note that the video ends here as we dutifuly jump into action!

There's a slightly earlier video of him saying Mama and laughing, but for some reason the sound is out of sync on YouTube. (Still cute though!)

"Yes, please"

It's hard to refuse Oliver anything when he sounds so cute saying "Yes please".

Definite flutters

Hayley has been experiencing little flutters for the last few days which are definitely Bumper making his/her presence felt.

We've been discussing names too. We've got some ideas for a girl but are still struggling a bit for a boy's name. I'm sure it will come to us in time.

I'm feeling pretty sure it is a boy. But I always thought our first would be a girl and was therefore rather amazed when we had Oliver. But what a joy it has been to have a son. So exuberant and expressive. Full of noise and energy. He has reminded me how to live life: fully, every day!

As for whether Bumper will be a boy or a girl, I feel we can't lose. All we want is a healthy happy baby. If it's a girl, then we have a perfect little "one of each" family. If we have a boy, I then have two boys to rampage around with. And of course us 3 boys will always be able to outvote the 1 girl. :)

A Day Off for Mummy!

It sounds terrible. No, despicable! How can I put this. I spent the whole day with Oliver on Saturday, taking him out and about and generally having fun, and afterwards we realised it is probably the first time I have ever been solely in charge of him for a whole day.

Now, I know how bad that sounds, so in my defense let me say that it doesn't mean I haven't spent a whole day with him before! Nor does it mean I don't spend much time with him. I love my time with him. I try to be home every evening in time to have an hour with him before he goes to bed. But at the weekends I tend to let Hayley take the lead and I prefer us all to spend time together when possible.

The biggest factor in the last few months has been the amount of time I've had to give over to my Open University studies. Thankfully that will end in May.

I spend Saturday mornings with him while Hayley has a much deserved lie-in or takes the opportunity to read the paper unhindered by clamouring hands. But after that if I go out with him it tends to be with Hayley too. That's partially because I like us all to do things together. It's also because Hayley knows all the best places to go!

And, I must admit, it is because even today I probably don't have quite the same unhesitating confidence as Hayley in all situations when it comes to taking him out. It's not just that I don't know the drill in some of these kiddie places. I've always tended to defer to her when we take him out and about because she has him all week and she has always been the one who knows how to handle him best (he says, as if he is some sort of explosive material!). But now that he is communicating so much more I think I know him pretty well myself and he can tell me what he wants anyway (in so many words and gestures). Consequently my confidence with him has really grown.

So after we all went to Funizuz a week or so ago, I jumped at the chance to take him there again this weekend, this time on my own.

But before we did that we ran riot in Decathlon where Oliver persuaded me to buy him 2 tennis balls. And we popped into our old favourite, Fresh, for tea and toast.

But Funizuz was what we enjoyed the most. It's a building full of ball pits and padded climbing areas and slides. In fact there is a very big slide at the heart of it. So big in fact you sometimes see Mums coming down it with no kids!

I have to admit I enjoyed it less than the previous week. It was busier and although there are "Under 4s only" areas, they aren't policed and I spend my time looking out for rampaging 8 year olds who might trample my 17 month old under foot and not even notice.

I also find myself occasionally enraged by the antics of some of the kids. One girl, much older than him, sat at the end of a tunnel as we crawled through and started throwing plastic balls straight into his face. I was right there with him and stoppped her pretty damn quick but the little man had to be encouraged to go on. He didn't seem scared, just hesitant and bemused by why she was doing it.

Of course you have to be careful, especially as a man, about intervening physically to stop this sort of behaviour. But frankly any child that does that sort of thing to Oliver while I am around is dicing with death. I may cut an urbane and liberal figure as I read my Saturday Guardian in the car park as he sleeps, but once we're in the ball pits... well, let's just say it's a padded jungle out there.

Once back out into civilisation we drove home and Oliver fell asleep again. Worn out by our endeavours.

Prior to this weekend, my recent Saturdays and Sundays seem to have been too full of studying and jobs around the house. But I'm determined to shift that balance. All work and no play make Daddy a dull boy. And that would never do.

We have our piano!

Last week I went to see the piano that a friend of ours had offered us before Christmas. Today it was finally delivered. Hayley and Oliver were out at the time so I gave it a quick "once over" with a duster. When Oliver came in he went straight over to it saying "up, up..." to be put on the stool. As you can see (below) he didn't even take his coat off before banging out a tune.



I'm no expert in pianos so I asked the guy (from a piano shop) who delivered it whether it was any good. His rather diplomatic answer implied that it was no Steinway! However, on further probing and after playing a few keys, he basically said that it was a very old piano which may not stand any drastic repairs but it was basically sound and - with some proper tuning and a little TLC - playable.

This of course really doesn't do it justice. Apart from being a beautiful piece of furniture in its won right (and made in Manchester too), it is a piano steeped in the history of the previous owner who had it for 60 years. I feel I am not just acquiring a piano, I am continuing a story and a tradition of loving music and enjoying all that communally shared music can offer within a family and beyond. Anyone who has read Annie Proulx's "Accordion Crimes" might know what I am trying to say.

I can't wait to get someone to look at tuning and it and fixing up the odd dead keys and dodgy notes so that I can play it. Of course, Oliver just can't wait to play it.

Shrove Tuesday - Pancake Day!

Shrove Tuesday is traditionally celebrated with pancakes in our part of the world and this time Oliver was able to lend a hand.


Hayley tried to give him a bowl of his own to mix but he insisted on mixing her bowl too (the white one).

After all that cooking there's nothing better than to enjoy the fruits of your own labour. Oliver decided to forgo the traditional seasonings of lemon and sugar in favour of ice cream and banana.



There are more photos from the day here.

Beebies!

A report published yesterday said that children under three years old should watch no television whatsoever and that older children should watch no more than 30 minutes rising to 60 minutes with age.

Fat chance! OK, Oliver doesn't tend to watch more than about 30 minutes per day (and often loses interest before that), but there are certain programmes he loves.

Yesterday when I got home from work I sat down with him to have a cup of tea and watch Boogie Beebies. I lay back on the sofa and he sat on my stomach. We sat watching Numberjacks, waiting for it to end. "This is a bit dull isn't it mate", I consoled him "but don't worry Boogie Beebies is on in a couple of minutes". His head shot around to look at me and exclaimed "Beebies!". When it came on a few minutes later he remained seated on my stomach but jigged and twisted about in delight at the theme tune.

The programme starts with a warm up exercise, loosening up the fingers, then hands, then arms, etc. until all extremities are covered. Oliver watched and duly flexed his fingers as requested (which was just the cutest thing to see), then arms, and so on.

When the show was over I turned off the TV and read a book with him instead. No complaint was made.

I don't think watching TV is too bad for Oliver in small doses, especially if I watch too and interact with him. (Did I mention that he had me joining in the dance for "big video time" at the end?) And anyway, I know plenty of cases where TV-watching toddlers have grown into responsible and respectable young adults.

Of course I too grew up watching the children's TV of my day. And it didn't do me any harm.... did it?!