Michelle Tant

According to government statistics, 96% of women drink less alcohol once they get pregnant. So why is there this 'tar with the same brush' mentality to making recommendations about alcohol consumption? I'm certainly not negating the seriousness of fetal alcohol syndrome but I do think that the women who are going to drink to excess whilst pregnant will do so regardless of the governments well meaning guidelines. The vast majority, yes, safe to say, almost all women take a sensible view to alcohol drinking when pregnant if the figures are to be believed. In fact a third of that 96% actually give up alcohol entirely. There's a part of me that thinks that the whole thing smacks of a nanny state, driven to reactive government styles. Women are more than capable of making these decisions. We are not defenseless, ill-educated dolls hanging about waiting for someone, anyone to please tell us how to look after our bodies and children because really we have no idea. ...

The other day I noticed a pregnant woman on crutches, desperately struggling to climb a single stair without moving above her knees whilst simultaneously not twisting her hips and upper body. As I rushed to her aid, in my own mind I was catapulted back to my own pregnancies and I felt her agony.   While you are pregnant, for some reason the expectation from non-pregnant people is that you should be a picture of blooming health, sailing around with that lovely pregnancy glow once the morning sickness has eased off. In fact even some pregnancy books say that once the first few months are passed that you will feel healthier and that you should take advantage of this time before the heaviness of the 3rd trimester kicks in.   So what if pregnancy, morning sickness aside, leaves you unable to walk, unable to move in bed, climb stairs, get in and out of the car, sit up for any length of time, sit down for any length of time… what then? Welcome to the excruciating world of Symphysis Pubi...

If I'd said it once, I've thought it a million more times. I am so fed up of this. My job is a shadow of its former self. I used to proudly say that I was an Housing Officer. It gave me a sense that I was helping in a real way and though some might argue the job hasn't changed all that much, it really has. Now I am an 'Income Co-Ordinator'. How rubbish does that sound? In the merger, a dozen or so of my colleagues lost their jobs and by some miracle I managed to hold onto mine and ended up with this specialised role. They split the job down the middle. The Income side deals with the rent. Everything else, read here, the interesting, peoply, touchy feely side went to the 'Neighbourhood Co-Ordinator'. You may well ask why I didn't go for that job instead but hours are longer and you cover such a wide geographic that at the end of a working day, I might be 70 miles from home and thats no good when I have children to pick up on time. So here I am. Collecting...