Part of pregnancy is relaxing as stress can harm your unborn
                       baby. To avoid stress, I would advise you avoid off-the-shelf
                       magazine aimed at pregnancy and birth. If you want to avoid
                       being misinformed and dispowered, avoid magazines.

                       In just one magazine, I have found points that really need to be
                       discussed as this information could potentially dangerous to the
                       wellbeing of mother and baby both, physically and emotionally.

                       · One of the points I noticed was that the magazine promoted
                       toys which is fine but it promoted toxic toys which are
                       detrimental to your child's health.

                       · SIDS is a worry for most parents. This magazine outlined some
                       of the possible factors that increase the chances of SIDS such as
                       coffee, smoking, bottlefeeding and sleeping alone. There was no
                       comment on the effect of vaccinations on SIDS even when
                       studies have shown a correlation between the two.

                       · They promote state-run antenatal classes and not private
                       which leads me to believe that they have some sort of an
                       incentive to promote the public system over private;

                       · UK mothers have, on average, 14 antenatal checks which is
                       higher than most other European mothers. Swiss mothers have
                       only 3 visits. You are condemned as a 'bad' mother risking the life
                       of your baby if you fail to have the recommended number of
                       checks in the UK. This magazine fails to inform you that it is
                       YOUR choice and not the government of the day's;

                       · I am personally not a huge fan of the word "deliver" and it's use.
                       An article about hospital checks states that "the hospital delivers
                       4,000 babies a year". I prefer to use the word "birthed" and I
                       certainly wouldn't say that anyone but the mother birthed or
                       delivered the baby. To whom was the baby born? The hospital?
                       The midwife? The doctor? Clearly not, it was born to the mother;

                       · This statement is really quite offensive: "Every mum-to-be
                       wants a healthy, normal child. So during your pregnancy, you will
                       be given a series of tests to make sure you and your baby are
                       doing well". If you read between the lines, this is saying that you
                       will have the tests or be cast as a bad parent who does not care
                       about the health of her child-to-be;

                       · This whole article is quite appalling. The tone is very demeaning
                       and authoritative. For example, "Your GP will arrange a series of
                       antenatal checks for you". Note the use of the word "will". The
                       use of the word "will" is evident in almost every paragraph;

                       · Be careful when reading statistics. They have quoted that 1 in
                       7 British babies are born by caesarean. They have not been
                       specific to where they gained the statistics, whether this is a
                       recent study, who conducted the study, whether these were
                       voluntary or involuntary, necessary or unnecessary. It is difficult
                       to know whether to believe statistical evidence as there will
                       always be someone, somewhere with a different conclusion;

                       · There is a section in the magazine about "the 9 scariest birth
                       emergencies". This, to me, sounds like nothing but a scare tactic
                       and it certainly does a fine job. I can imagine people who were
                       considering a homebirth, reading this article and going straight to
                       their local hospital for some 'healthy' checks;

                       · In general, the magazine encourages formula when people write
                       in asking for breastfeeding advice and with the plethora of full
                       page formula advertisements;

                       · A direct contradiction of advice is where a breastfeeding
                       counsellor recommends a formula but recommends against cow's
                       milk until the child is, at least, 1 year old. Many of the formula's
                       have cow's milk as the major ingredient. If it is damaging enough
                       in it's fresh form, why are they recommending it in it's powdered
                       form?!2    Q

                       · It was stated that "since flouride was added to toothpaste in
                       the 1970's, tooth decay in children has falled by 75%". Could this
                       be due to better dental hygene, better food, longer brushing,
                       better toothbrush's…. well apparently, it's due to added flouride.
                       This was a subtle advertisement for Macleans 'milk teeth'
                       toothpaste. Flouride is found naturally in spring water in small
                       doses. The reason nature only provided us with a little flouride is
                       because it is a deadly poison not to be taken in toothpaste and
                       not to be added to our water system. Flouride is a damaging
                       poison that should not be given to your child. The best
                       preventative against tooth decay is regular brushing, dental floss
                       and using a dental hygenest. At least these methods wont cause
                       you long and short term health problems.

                       · The magazine is very 'state-compliant' in that it completely
                       supports and promotes all of the state's services including GP
                       checks, Paediatric checks, hearing checks, vaccinations, health
                       visitors, community midwives and anything else the state
                       recommends. Again, using the term "will" when stating what
                       checks your baby will have. They attempt to use 'scare' tactics
                       to make you feel the need to take your baby to a 'professional'.
                       Most of the checks you can conduct yourself without the need
                       for a professional. I believe a lot of these checks to be
                       unnecessary and recommended more to see whether you have
                       harmed your baby or the like.

                       I think the message here is to keep away from this kind of
                       literature as it will scare you, depress you and dispower you.
                       Read books that empower you, make you feel in control, make
                       you feel relaxed and content.