A great deal is known about postnatal depression but little is known about that other wicked sister of hers – prenatal depression. So why are we keeping mum on the subject? When it comes to mental health issues, she is the mother of all taboos. Pregnancy is bumped up to be the happiest most joyous […]
7 years ago
Birth mothers were being forced to ‘adopt’ their own children.
9 years ago
Changes in law do happen – but it usually takes great courage and tenacity from an individual or group affected to campaign for such change. Then along came the marriage equality referendum and in their droves, people – gay and straight – swamped the polling stations baying for change to the outdated marriage law that […]
11 years ago
The success of the marriage equality referendum opened a big door in Irish law. Not surprisingly, there are fresh calls for further changes – this time to the abortion laws. To give it it’s constitutional title, The Eighth Amendment is the part of Irish law whereby ‘The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn […]
11 years ago
It’s always been a sore subject, the snip (for men anyway), but compared to pregnancy and childbirth the procedure is well, child’s play – yet still men will try and wriggle out of having it done. So I’ve devised a simple method – that doesn’t involve nagging or taking doors off hinges – that will […]
11 years ago
In conversion with Milana: Dear Mothers, My name is Milana and like all mothers, I love my children, Vanessa and Harry, dearly. A couple of years ago, myself and my husband Patrick made the decision to unify our family under the Step-Parent Adoption Process – thus allowing Patrick (who is not Vanessa’s biological father) to […]
11 years ago
During pregnancy, you expect to feel many things – what you don’t expect is to feel like a criminal. One day you go to the loo a free woman but as soon as that pee-stick proves positive – you’re a marked pregnant woman. The next eight months you spend under heavy surveillance. Nothing, I mean […]
11 years ago
In between all the trivial things a mother has to think about – is there enough milk for the morning? Do I have my child’s immunisation card with me? Will I ever see my waist again? I do on occasion get to think about other stuff – like the state of the world and how […]
11 years ago
In Ireland children have rights. And they’re basic. Like the right to live; the right to an education; the right to protection and the right to freedom; they can express their opinion, join an association. For most children in Ireland, these rights are upheld. If they’re not then there are moves that can be made […]
11 years ago