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So Nick Clegg has confirmed that the Government intends to “encourage shared parenting from the earliest stage of pregnancy”. A great policy – two thirds of mothers and fathers think parents should share the responsibilities of caring, but only one third of parents report that this actually happens. In other countries where real . . . → Read More: Government declares policy to promote “shared parenting from pregnancy”: for things for their ‘to do’ list At the weekend I went to the demonstration in London against the destruction by King’s College Hospital of the Albany Midwives, a beacon of family and community based midwifery. I even spoke at the demo from the top of a double decker bus in front of the Department of Health – the listeners . . . → Read More: The Albany Mums protest – with their families Antenatal education is in trouble. The latest review of the evidence by the Department of Health is discouraging – put simply, there is little evidence that antenatal education works very well. This may be because it has always been given a low priority by the NHS – half-hearted evaluations of half-hearted attempts are . . . → Read More: Community based “New Family Markets” instead of NHS antenatal education? I’m back – book written! Yesterday, at the invitation of the Royal College of Midwives, I debated with the famous French obstetrician, Michel Odent, “should men be at the birth of babies?” The debate was discussed in the national papers, on the BBC TV news (twice), on radio stations (four times on . . . → Read More: Should men be at the birth of babies? What I said in the debate with Michel Odent. Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, gave a speech on the family on 8 July at Relate. He said that it was important to support family relationships of all kinds and in all family formations. He talked about the need at the present time to support relationships under stress from unemployment, repossession . . . → Read More: Nick Clegg gives speech on family and fatherhood This is the only image of breastfeeding with a father present that I could find on Google. The evidence is strong: engaging with fathers in the promotion of breastfeeding increases breastfeeding rates significantly – and in some trials, spectacularly. The UK won’t get off the bottom of the European league table of . . . → Read More: The Government’s breastfeeding strategy needs to engage with fathers to increase the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe Monty Python’s classic sketch on hospital birth – The Miracle of Birth. A holiday treat for Easter. How contemporary this parody remains. It even shows how the medicalised approach chucks out the family – “you are not involved!” . . . → Read More: Monty Python’s version of medicalised birth Here is a letter that I wrote today to Beverley Hughes MP, Children’s Minister, and to Kitty Ussher MP, Minister at the Department for Work and Pensions. It is a response to an attempt in Parliament to undermine the Government’s proposed new legislation on birth registration. Dear Beverley and Kitty, I am writing . . . → Read More: My defence of the Government’s proposed change of law on birth registration Why engage with fathers in maternity services? . . . → Read More: Men in the maternity unit: the case for “family centred” care Eight things I think should change…. ….to create a stronger expectation of and support for fatherhood. Government is making good progress in some areas of policies and services – early years, work with the most vulnerable families in the community, and promotion of involvement by schools of fathers in their children’s learning. But . . . → Read More: The fatherhood agenda going forward |
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Copyright © 2012 Duncan Fisher - All Rights Reserved |
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