Symphysiotomy – Ireland’s brutal alternative to caesareans
Homa Khaleeli: Symphysiotomy has left many Irish mothers with serious long-term health problems. So did religious dogma trump the women’s best interests?
Judge rules mother not guilty of crime for drinking while pregnant
Child born with lifelong damage after excessive drinking by mother is not entitled to criminal injuries compensation, court rules
Eating for two ‘increases risk of obesity in babies’
Overweight mothers can affect child’s weight and health from very early age, warns new report
It’s class, not whether a baby is breastfed, that determines life chances
Eliane Glaser: Paying working-class women to breastfeed doesn’t address the reasons for their choice, or the economic factors that are really driving inequality
We don’t know why a mum abandoned her newborn baby. But we do know that the system fails mothers
Amy Gray: As crimes go, abandoning a newborn in a drain is awful. Cases like this are exceedingly rare, but our society’s neglect of mothers makes them possible
Finnish teenagers with sleeping disorders double in last 20 years
Study reveals increase in insomnia and experts believe energy drinks and smartphones may be to blame
Face blindness – when you can’t recognise a familiar face
In this winning essay for the Wellcome Trust science writing prize, Kate Szell reports on research into prosopagnosia – face blindness
Some children’s juice drinks have more sugar than Coke
Campaign group says 57 out of 203 supermarket drinks tested had as much sugar as Coca-Cola or more
The Guardian view on criminalising drinking in pregnancy: no cheers
Editorial: Who will benefit from the bid to criminalise a woman who damaged her baby by drinking in pregnancy?
‘Victorian’ sexual exploitation of poor girls isn’t history
Tom Seymour: 19th-century prostitutes’ champion, Josephine Butler, has lessons for how society needs to change its attitude to today’s abused young woman, a new biography says
High-fliers have more babies, according to study
Growing wealth divide allows high-fliers who can afford childcare to have families, study suggests
Why my son rides a balance bike
Victoria Hazael: I don’t want my son to learn bad cycling habits – stabilisers give false sense of security and encourage over-leaning
Should I send my sick child to school?
Luisa Dillner: Parents in south Wales have been advised that children with tonsillitis, conjunctivitis and glandular fever don’t need time off school. Should they follow these guidelines?
If you want to get ahead, have a lie-in
Tom Hodgkinson: An experiment that allows some lucky teenagers to start school an hour later than usual will prove what we idlers have long suspected – the key to success is plenty of sleep
The UK’s toothache – why children are losing their teeth
The first UK survey of the dental health of under-threes has discovered shocking levels of tooth decay, with sugary drinks often to blame. Here is more on the story in graphics and images from across the ages