Lily Allen suffers a miscarriage
January 18, 2008 by Andy Merrett · Leave a Comment
Sad news for the singer Lily Allen and her boyfriend Ed Simons. A spokesperson for Lily’s publicists confirmed “that Lily Allen has suffered a miscarriage… and we ask that her privacy be respected at this difficult time.”
The miscarriage reportedly occurred after returning from a holiday in the Maldives.
According to statistics, one in five pregnancies end in miscarriage, which accounts for nearly a quarter of a million each year. It proves to be a very tough time for a large number of couples, but the truth is that — in time — you can move on from the pain. Many women enjoy healthy pregnancies after miscarriage, so while it’s tragic at the time, it certainly doesn’t rule out starting a family.
Our thoughts are with Lily and Ed at this time, and I do hope the media give them space to come to terms with this.
Young children’s academic development heavily influenced by family affluence
December 13, 2007 by Andy Merrett · Leave a Comment
A new study by UK children’s charity the Sutton Trust suggests that economic factors play a huge role in the academic and learning development of young children.
They claim that research on children born in the years 2000 and 2001 shows that, even between the ages of 3 and 5, less bright children from more affluent families are catching up academically with very bright children from poorer families.
By age seven, many have caught up or even overtaken them.
The Trust claims that this wide social divide hasn’t changed in thirty years.
TwinsClub launches charity 2008 Calendar featuring pictures and stories of twins and triplets
October 18, 2007 by Andy Merrett · Leave a Comment
TwinsClub.co.uk, which claims to be the UK’s largest website for parenting twins, triplets, and more, has announced the availability of its 2008 Twins & Triplets calendar, featuring 57 beautiful photographs and 13 moving stories.
The calendar will be sold in aid of Tommy’s, the Baby Charity.
Co-founder Lindsey Gray said “As far as we know our calendar is totally unique - the only calendar dedicated to Twins & Triplets and we are extremely proud of it. We have raised over £5000 for BLISS and TAMBA (the Twins and Multiple Birth Association) through sales of our previous calendars, and we are hoping to have the same success this year.”
Stories in the calendar include twins conceived after vasectomy, triplets conceived after a sterilisation, the heaviest set of twins born naturally in the UK, twins born on different days, identical twins with downs syndrome, and 2 sets of twins born to same parents in 2 years.
The calendar costs £10.50 and is available from TwinsClub.co.uk or by post from 1 Matthews Close, Stratford St. Mary, Suffolk, CO7 6LH (cheques made payable to Twinsclub).
Tories propose tax relief for married couples
July 11, 2007 by Andy Merrett · 1 Comment
The UK Conservative Party has proposed that married couples be given a £20 per week tax and benefit boost.
Leader David Cameron has suggested that the benefits system has to lose its “anti-marriage bias” in order to fix the UK’s “broken society”.
In the news: 8th February 2007
February 9, 2007 by Andy Merrett · Leave a Comment
Child cruelty Conviction
A couple who subjected their four-year-old disabled daughter to a systematic campaign of cruelty have been jailed for a total of 22 years. Read
Brain disorder reversible
The symptoms of a severe brain disorder similar to autism, which affects around 10,000 UK children, could be reversed, scientists believe.
A team at Edinburgh University made symptoms of Rett syndrome disappear in mice by activating a single gene, the magazine Science reports.
The condition, which mainly affects girls, was previously thought to be irrevocable. Read
