Women who lie on their backs in the last three months of pregnancy may have a higher risk of stillbirth, research suggests.

Women who gain too much weight in pregnancy run the risk of giving their offspring health problems in later life, researchers have found.

The UK’s highest court has overturned a ruling made in favour of two Catholic midwives who object to any involvement in abortion procedures.

A mother who drank a half-bottle of vodka and eight cans of beer a day while pregnant and gave birth to a baby with serious, alcohol-related problems has been cleared of claims that she committed a criminal offence.

At the age of 11, Sarian Karim Kamara became a victim of FGM.

Women’s health is being increasingly threatened by the "over-medicalisation" of pregnancy in both poorer parts of the world and high-income countries such as the UK, say experts.

Private patients in Ireland are twice as likely to have pre-planned Caesarean sections as women whose treatment is publicly funded, according to new figures that lend support to the theory that some mothers are “too posh to push”.

Women are less likely to need an epidural, forceps or ventouse delivery if midwives lead their care, research shows.

Breastfed babies cry more, laugh less and generally have "more challenging temperaments" than formula-fed infants, a study has found.

Health chiefs have insisted breast milk provides all the nutrients a baby needs up to six months of age after experts suggested exclusive breastfeeding for that length of time is not necessarily best.

WOMEN were urged yesterday to think twice before giving birth at home lest they put their baby at risk.

British parents were warned last night by a leading cot death charity not to risk their baby’s life by sleeping alongside them.

Obese women giving birth for the first time are more likely to have premature and low birthweight babies, researchers said today.

ANTI-ABORTIONISTS in the North won a major victory yesterday after a British High Court judge dismissed a bid to introduce termination guidelines there.