New Jersey congresswoman LaMonica McIver faces legal deadline after giving birth to second child

She must decide by the end of the week whether to seek further review of federal charges over a confrontation with ICE agents at Delaney Hall

A US congresswoman who just gave birth to a baby girl faces a deadline this week on whether to seek a rehearing of a federal case against her by the Trump administration after an oversight visit to an immigration detention facility.

LaMonica McIver, 40, represents New Jersey’s 10th congressional district. She gave birth to her second child last Thursday – a rarity for a sitting member of Congress. She is only the 15th member of Congress to give birth while serving and part of a small subset of congresswomen who have school-age children.

Continue reading...

Babies born to anaemic mothers have smaller brains, study finds

Key regions of the brain linked to movement, learning and emotions were affected and may lead to cognitive problems

Babies born to mothers with anaemia have smaller brains, particularly in key regions linked to movement, learning and the regulation of emotion, according to a study.

Researchers said the differences, first detected at the age of one, could lead to cognitive problems when children started school.

Continue reading...

News live: parents of Australian surfers killed in Mexico fly in for trial; Labor pressured to toughen lobbying rules

Follow the day’s news live

Anniversary of death of last known Tasmanian tiger

It’s National Threatened Species Day today. Many papers have run full-page ads from a range of conservation organisations noting that it is the anniversary of the death of the last Tasmanian tiger – the last known one, that is.

We remain committed to long-term environmental recovery, in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups, wildlife experts and local communities.

We are making good progress towards our target of protecting 30% of Australia’s land, to preserve vital habitat for our precious species.

It’s not clear if there’s a human who can actually apply a common-sense overlay to these decisions. And it’s not clear how you can review these if they’re made by a computer.

So the bill that I’m introducing today would actually create a mandatory framework that applies whenever government is using an automated system to make a decision that affects people’s significant rights and would require those three things to be addressed: transparency, human oversight, and review.

Continue reading...

Parents of baby girl killed at nursery fear unsafe sleeping ‘rife’ in sector across England

Katie and John Meehan say responses to campaign they launched after death of daughter Genevieve must be ‘wake-up call’

The parents of a nine-month-old girl who died after being placed in an unsafe sleeping position at nursery said they feared poor practice may be “rife” across England.

Genevieve Meehan suffocated when she was strapped face down to a beanbag for an hour and 37 minutes at a nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, in May 2022.

Continue reading...

Germany’s CDU party chair resigns after using surrogacy to become parent

Jens Spahn had criticised ‘rented wombs’ and his party is strongly opposed to surrogacy, which is banned in Germany

A senior German politician and ally of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has resigned as chair of the Christian Democrat (CDU) party after he and his husband used a surrogate mother to become parents, a practice he has criticised in the past and his party is vehemently opposed to.

Surrogacy is banned in Germany, a policy Jens Spahn refused to relax when he was health minister in 2020, so he and his husband, Daniel Funke, used a surrogate mother in the US.

Continue reading...

Screen time can damage under-twos’ development, landmark study suggests

Exclusive: Researchers call for urgent investigation of risks to babies of tablets, smartphones and other digital devices

Screen time for babies and toddlers under the age of two has been linked with long-term negative effects on health and quality of life and should be avoided, according to a landmark study.

It warns that using screens during that period may lead to wide-ranging developmental concerns and calls for further urgent investigation of the risks smartphones, tablets and other digital devices pose to infants.

Continue reading...

Inquest into Melbourne influencer’s death following freebirth halted after new phone evidence discovered

Coroner tells inquiry new material ‘of such significance’ any findings must be postponed so information can be analysed

The closing submissions in an inquest into the death of a woman who gave birth at home with no support from medically trained health workers has been delayed, after new evidence came to light after a forensic analysis of her mobile phone.

Stacey Warnecke, a 30 year-old nutritionist, died on 29 September in Frankston hospital in Melbourne.

Continue reading...

Delivery pain for UK dad as baby magazine arrives 19 years late

Paul Edwards ordered the publication before the birth of his son in 2007, but experienced pregnant pause before receiving it this week

When Paul Edwards ordered a parenting magazine in 2007, he was hoping that it would provide helpful advice and offers to help him navigate the stresses and challenges of bringing up children.

However the magazine never arrived – until now. The copy of Mother & Baby was delivered on Friday – 19 years after he ordered it – with his children now studying at university.

Continue reading...

Michelle Obama: white men do not have to worry about impostor syndrome

Former US first lady says she has sat ‘at every powerful table’ and not met a single white man with such doubts

White men do not have to worry about impostor syndrome, according to Michelle Obama, who said she had sat “at every powerful table there is” and not found one.

The former US first lady told SXSW London that she wanted to “demystify” what it was like to sit in elite meetings, which she said were often populated by people from diverse backgrounds who felt like outsiders.

Continue reading...

Prolific unregulated sperm donor loses UK legal fight to be named as child’s father

Robert Albon cannot be declared four-year-old’s father because he ran illegal sperm donation business, court rules

A prolific unregulated sperm donor described in the high court as a “highly dangerous man” has lost a legal fight to be named as the father of a child conceived using his sperm.

Robert Albon, who calls himself Joe Donor, was not entitled to be declared the father of a four-year-old child because he was running an illegal sperm donation business, Britain’s most senior family court judge ruled.

Continue reading...

Japan allows divorced couples to negotiate joint custody of children for first time

The new rules are the first major change to the country’s laws governing child-rearing in more than a century

Divorced couples in Japan will be able to negotiate joint custody of their children from Wednesday, in the first major change to the country’s laws governing child-rearing in more than a century.

Previously, Japan’s Civil Code required couples to decide which parent would take custody of their children when they divorce.

Continue reading...

Most gen Z fathers in Australia believe it’s solely their job to provide financially, research finds

Survey also found 65% of gen Z think ‘things are better if men do paid work and women do care work’

Younger fathers are more likely to cling to outdated ideas that frame men as the money earners and women as caregivers, new research has found.

The Australian State of the World’s Fathers report is based on a global survey of 8,000 parents, with 533 from Australia.

Continue reading...

‘Loud and proud’: UK summit kicks off new conversation for working dads

Organisers of event urge fathers to push for more equal parental rights in face of Britain’s current poor offering

“Who’s in your team?” asked Elliott Rae, pumping up the crowd in central London at what he billed as the world’s first Working Dads’ summit. “Who’s your goalkeeper, your defender, your striker? Do you have a full 11? Do you have subs on the bench?.”

Football analogies are generally rare at events about parenting, particularly those that seek to tackle gender equality. But then, so are men. At the Working Dads’ summit – almost certainly the first in the UK – both were in plentiful supply, as fathers were urged to “create a new idea of masculinity”.

Continue reading...

Third of UK parents have sought special needs assessment for their child, survey finds

Parentkind charity also says 33% of parents of children with special educational needs reported financial strain

One in three parents have sought a special needs assessment for their child, according to a survey that reveals a surge in demand for special needs support in schools across the UK.

The figures were released amid mounting apprehension in England over national plans to reform special needs provision amid rising costs and a severe shortage of dedicated special school places.

Continue reading...

Victorian Liberal members to push for regulated cannabis market at state council

Proposal to treat cannabis similarly to alcohol among 62 policy motions on draft agenda, alongside increased parental leave and scrapping net zero

Rank-and-file Victorian Liberal party members will use this month’s state council meeting to push for a regulated cannabis market for adult use, overhaul heritage and planning laws to tackle the housing crisis and introduce a full year of parental leave with a “daddy quota”.

The motions are among 62 on the draft agenda for the Victorian Liberal state council – the party’s annual general meeting – on 12-13 September. Other motions include proposals to scrap net zero targets, renters’ rights reforms and diversity quotas.

Continue reading...

UK mothers earn £302 a week less than fathers, analysis shows

ONS data shows they are working for free from 1 September, almost three months earlier than Equal Pay Day for all women

Women with children earn £302 less every week than men with children: one-third less per week and almost 20% less per hour, according to analysis based on ONS data.

This means that Mums’ Equal Pay Day falls on 1 September this year, almost three months earlier than Equal Pay Day for all women. From this date, mothers are working for free for the rest of the year compared with fathers.

Continue reading...

Verbally abused children more likely to have poor mental health as adults, study finds

Analysis suggests long-term damage to wellbeing can be worse than for children experiencing physical abuse

Parents who ridicule, threaten or humiliate their children risk leaving them with a 64% higher chance of having poor mental health as an adult, a study has found.

The research also found physical abuse experienced among the research participants reduced over time, while verbal abuse increased.

Continue reading...

Fathers plan legal action to get smartphones banned in England’s schools

Two fathers tell education secretary they will seek judicial review in bid for statutory ban to safeguard children

Two fathers plan to take legal action against the government in an attempt to get smartphones banned in schools in England.

Will Orr-Ewing and Pete Montgomery wrote to the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, on Friday warning that they would seek a judicial review. They argue that current guidance, which allows headteachers to decide how smartphones are used, is unlawful and unsafe for children.

Continue reading...

Parents in Britain to be granted bereavement leave after miscarriage

Mothers and partners will gain the legal right if they lose a baby before 24 weeks, in Labour workers’ rights reform

Parents in Britain will be granted the right to bereavement leave after suffering a miscarriage as part of Labour’s changes to workers’ rights, it has been confirmed.

In a change to the law made via amendments to the employment rights bill, mothers and their partners will be given the legal right to at least one week’s bereavement leave if they have suffered a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks’ gestation.

Continue reading...

The Netherlands’ world-leading postnatal care facing crisis, unions warn

Kraamzorg system, where care assistants visit new mothers at home, is threatened by labour shortage and competition

A key pillar of Dutch maternity services that has led to the Netherlands being hailed as a world leader in postnatal care is under threat, healthcare unions in the country have warned.

The Netherlands has long prided itself on its unique system of kraamzorg (maternity care), whereby a maternity care assistant comes to a new family’s home for eight days after a baby’s birth, caring for mother and infant.

Continue reading...