jollybaby

I was at the birth of my niece - wasn't planned but after 30 hours she decided her husband was being useless and so my services were requested. I even cut the cord and got a great photo of the placenta! There was also a medical student and student midwife so a very full labour room. This was 6 years ago and so probably a bit long ago for your article.

srisky - I think the study only included women with low risk pregnancies otherwise you couldn't really make any comparison of intervention rates etc. "Having not read the study (so do correct me if my interpretation is wrong), the rates of complications of home births do seem high if you take into consideration that: - those having home births ought to be considered very low risk - the rates of complications at hospital would include those who have high risk pregnancies, as well as the low risk ones"

Gwod the study was designed to analyse on planned place of birth rather than eventual place of birth so home births that ended up being transferred were still considered as home births. This is what made it different to some of the previous studies, and allows for better comparison between complication and intervention rates.

Risk is very subjective. I can't help but look at the results below and think 'hang on why is the rate of complications in the planned home birth group nearly double that in all other settings?', but I know that others will look at this and find the results reassuring as the rate of complications was still less than 1%. Rates of complications per 1000 births for first timers Hospital midwife unit 4.5 Stand alone midwife unit 4.7 Hospital 5.3 Home. 9.3 I didn't want a home birth for several reasons including the wish to be as close to an operating theatre as possible. I know that if I'd gone for a home birth and something did go wrong then I'd have found it very difficult to live with my decision. This is despite being very aware that things can go wrong in hospital too. In the end I got my wish - I had an emergency section and so saw the theatre from the inside! Would it have been different if I had opted for a home birth? In my individual circumstances I don't think it would but who knows. I suppose the most important thing is that you are informed and fully comfortable with your decision.

Thirded. My mum has never got over being told she was tone deaf by her choir mistress. She now won't even join in with carols.

I suppose it comes down to whether you are unwaged through choice or not. The attitude is probably taken that unless you are actively seeking work (and so on JSA) or unable to work because of illness, then you've made the decision to be unwaged. Of course this isn't the situation for many but they will have to draw a line somewhere.

Goodness I just popped into a chemist and read the label on the cow and gate toddler milk - it contains vanilla flavouring- no wonder it smelt so sweet and foul.

We bought a very classy ford focus from car giant earlier in the year and have had no problems so far. The only hassle was that it was an ex motability car which meant that I couldn't tax it then and there but had to go the DVLA in Sidcup to change the class of vehicle first. I think this is a bit cheeky as basically this means that you have to take an untaxed car onto the road They also try to do the hard sell with all the insurance policies and finance which was amusing. Once the guy had finally got it into his head that we were cash buyers- boy did his enthusiasm for the sale drop! So I think along as you are sensible and know what you want they are fine. I hate haggling for things so buying at a set price almost took some of the stress away.

Thanks hs I may give it a go. Next question - how much do you wake them? I'm assuming it's just so they open their eyes and stir rather than strip off the bedding out of the cot type waking?

Ok so it's nearly a month on and Miss JB is still waking at 5.45 on the dot rather than 6.45 pre clock change. There's been a bout of illness and teething along the way, but this has now passed and I had hoped she would gradually start sleeping later. It seems like her body is programmed to wake up at this time. Any tips? Is it worth trying the wake to sleep thing? She normally naps 11.30 til 1 ish and bedtime is 7- 7.15. She also goes to nursery 3 days a week and on these days she may have a nap in the car on the way home around 6. I know this is not ideal but it's hard to keep a 14 month old awake in a warm dark car for 50 mins. Roll on summertime!

I think it is a little unrealistic to expect babies to stop having milk at 12 months. For many it's part of their bedtime routine. I suppose if you breastfeed beyond 12 months it would be easy 'to give cows' milk a swerve' but if not it's a little more tricky than that. Holly - miss Jb went onto cows milk without any problem. I did buy a couple of the cow and gate toddler milks for travelling. They were disgusting and tasted really sweet and so now if we're going somewhere where milk storage may be a problem I just take a carton of standard formula. Regarding cups etc - I'd suggest trying a beaker or cup sooner rather than later. I posted something on here a few weeks ago about this and initially had great success with getting her to drink out of a beaker. She then was poorly for a couple of weeks and was off her food and I reverted to the bottle. This may have been a big mistake as now at 14 months (and going through a determined/Resistant/tantrumming phase) she's really not keen on taking her milk from anything but a bottle. If I bring her a cup she swipes it away!

Must admit I am guilty of trying to plan when number 2 should arrive. Even worse this is because of my work! Reading this thread has given me a gentle reminder that mother nature may not fit in with my plans.

I bought what I thought was a nice patterned jumper yesterday - mr jb has been calling me Sarah (in dodgy Danish accent) all day!

Particularly in a foreign country!

Yup in landells road . Very annoying. I've had to make conversation with mr jb.

Many many congrats Grotty x

True to big I'd say!

New mother - re wrap dresses definitely nothing as grand as DVF. Currently cycling one from Kew and one from Great Plains and then on the third day I pull together something random! I think Isabella Oliver may do non maternity wrap dresses too - which I expect would be good quality and not as pricy as DVF.

I've been back at work for 2 1/2 months and am really enjoying it. I was particularly nervous about going back as I had a pretty rough time before going on maternity leave. I'm working 3 days a week and miss jb is at the on site nursery which i'm sure has made it much easier than for some- no last minute dashes across London. Going back to work has made me feel 'normal' again - I suppose I hadn't realised how much my job is part of me. As others have said it's great being able to have a coffee with colleagues and even go to the loo without being accompanied. Good luck and congratulations. Ps - I've found stretchy wrap type dresses to be my saviour - no ironing and you only need to think about 1 piece of clothing at a time!

I expect the best explanation is chance New Mother!

I'm not sure I could do 12 times tables by age 6! With miss JB being only 14 months I'm not really an expert on reading age but I asked my MIL, a teacher who specialises in dyslexia etc, the best way to help your child to start reading pre school. She said that children who come to school with some knowledge of the alphabet have a huge headstart (although Of course they could be the clever ones anyway). Not sure how this fits in with all the phonics schemes though.

Christmas carols in jojo maman bebe today. Mr Jb is off to a Christmas party tonight. It's getting ridiculous . . Ho ho ho.

I feel your pain. Miss jb has been at nursery for just over 2 months and it has been a continous stream of bugs. Working in healthcare I thought I was pretty resilient but no - these nursery strains can really wipe you out. I haven't felt well for over 3 weeks. Prior to going to nursery miss jb's last meeting with a doctor was her 6 week check - we are now regulars at the surgery!

Miss jb seemed to really like the Galt playnest. I used to throw a few toys in the middle of the ring with her and she'd play for a good while. Mine was borrowed off someones else so unfortunately haven't got one to lend - they tend to get passed around as they are only really useful for a few weeks as they learn to sit.

Could it be that as she is growing up, she's more aware of her environment and is perhaps a little afraid of the dark? I'm only saying that because I was quite scared of the dark when I was younger and used to sleep with my bedroom door open and the landing light on. I think this was until I was about 9 or 10. Would it help to buy her a night light or similar? Rather than causing problems later on- this has actually been quite helpful. I can sleep wherever now - whereas Mr JB needs a pitch dark room.