NEWS ENDING 24 DECEMBER 2011

guardian.co.uk
For Christmas this year women in Britain can access the morning after pill for free with a consultation over the phone.

Vulgar is one word that was used in the article to describe this campaign by The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS). It will encourage promiscuity is another criticism laid against this campaign; especially for teenage girls.

BPAS said the service was vital at a time when many surgeries and pharmacies would be closed and because chemists’ shops charged up to £25 for the emergency contraceptive, too expensive for some women.

It kind of resembles the theory behind having injecting rooms for drug addicts. Sure, some are skeptical because it is seen as encouraging drug use, but with a medical officer on hand who will have information on how the drug addict can kick their habit or help them if they overdose isn’t a bad thing right?

To me this is the same thing. Supplying the morning after pill may be seen as encouraging promiscuity but if the problem is rife, maybe the first step is a band-aid effect. Stop unwanted pregnancies and the next step is education about contraception, safe sex, making better choices. But if you don’t know who these girls are, how can you teach them? Sure the school system, should be all over this, but there’s nothing like a one on one conversation.

Interestingly, an Australian survey found that people turn to sex to help with stress; Christmas is a particularly stressful time of year.

So stress coupled with Christmas merriment leads to babies in September/October. I posed a quick question on Twitter about which month most babies were born and @Babytastes a child health nurse said that she receives the most birth notifications in October. Now I’m not saying that December is full of unplanned pregnancies, but the BPAS feel there is a need to have the morning after pill made available for free.

Sticking with the contraceptive pill theme, a conference was recently held in Dakar, Africa to discuss family planning where About 40 per cent of pregnancies in the developing world are unintended and nearly half of those end in abortion, most of which are unsafe. Complications kill an estimated 47,000 women a year – 13 per cent of all deaths in pregnancy and childbirth.

And researchers from Melbourne University have suggested the THE Catholic Church should supply nuns with the oral contraceptive pill to reduce their higher risk of ovarian and uterine cancer.

Women who did not have children faced a higher risk of breast and endometrial cancers as they experienced more menstrual cycles than women who stopped menstruating during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Okay, I’ve had 4 kids so that’s good for me right?

But for those of you who have had a planned pregnancy, hold your horses.

An article in The Sydney Morning Herald said most couples assume having children will make them happier. But time and again researchers find parents are no happier than childless couples. More often children seem to bring unhappiness.

Um….yes I have been stressed a little bit because of my children. Maybe I should have more sex to help that.

And an article out of the United States says WASHINGTON — Mothers with jobs tend to be healthier and happier than moms who stay at home during their children’s infancy and pre-school years, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association.

What about mothers who work at home?

And our own working mother icon Ita Buttrose recommended that women should demand nannies and housekeepers as part of their salary package to keep their careers on track.

I like the sound of that Ita.

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