A Christmas that changed me: I ended up on all fours in A&E having my buttocks syringed

It was just a cup of steaming mint tea – but when it spilled into my lap and onto my seat, the enormous blisters were inevitable

Just say no: 13 ways to get out of everything – from extra work to Christmas parties

Do you yearn to set strong boundaries, but are scuppered by a lifelong tendency to people-please? Here is how to stop now

My youth has all but faded. But my three-quarter-life crisis is filled with fascinating revelations and boundless joys

As someone fortunate to be on the cusp of a seventh decade, it’s not often I sense the icy spectre of mortality. But posterity, familial and cultural, really matters now

My parents and in-laws are making inappropriate comments about my baby. Should I let them go?

You are allowed to have rules about how you and your child are treated, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, but enforcing them will feel awful

‘It’s extortionate’: a mother’s struggle to afford rising price of baby formula

Lone parent Rebecca Anderson feels women in UK who do not breastfeed are being penalised after 25% price rise

My sister is getting opportunities I feel I missed. How do I grieve my past, but support her?

Beware of grass is always greener thinking, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Instead, reflect on what has stopped you before and what is possible now

Births among women over 50 rise 15% in England, figures show

Births to older mothers have increased in recent years alongside average ages for childbirth and IVF treatment

A home help for eight days after giving birth? Why Dutch maternity care is the envy of the world

Everyone who gives birth in the Netherlands has the legal right to a kraamzorg to help with everything from breastfeeding to laundry. How do these new mums find it?

My grandmother’s support – and Creole cooking – helped me to love myself when I didn’t know how

When I felt lonely growing up, my grandmother’s company and cuisine were a soothing balm

Pregnant in Gaza with no clinics: ‘I have no idea where I will give birth’

As one of 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, Noor Hammad faces a traumatic birth and fraught start in life for her first baby

Fertility patients in UK unable to keep stored embryos amid cost of living crisis

Rising inflation has made it harder for patients to continue fertility treatment, experts say

I put other people’s needs before my own. Why do I do things I don’t want to?

People pleasing won’t guarantee others’ wellbeing, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, but it will ensure you feel resentful

Where did I find the courage to talk to my mum about her cancer? At parkrun, far behind the racers

Every Saturday morning, thousands of people get off their sofas to cover 5km in their local park. Like me, a growing number are there to walk rather than run – and to talk about their deepest feelings

‘There was blood. A dash to the hospital. No heartbeat’ – how I survived the stillbirth of my son

My world came crashing down when my baby died. The future my wife and I had been planning for nine months had been snatched away, and for fathers like me there seemed to be no one to turn to

My friend is struggling to assert herself with her family. Should I say something?

It sounds like you’re a loving friend, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith, and don’t underestimate how much that is already helping