Latest from Pregnancy and Childbirth

Why dust is good for baby

Exposing babies to a dust mite could significantly reduce the risk of developing allergies including asthma and eczema as they get older, according to new research from the UK.

Little Charn owes life to blood donors

Auckland preschooler Charn Lee-Tuafale, 3, has received more than 30 units of blood in transfusions since he was born.

Mobile phone warning for men

Men who keep a mobile phone in their trouser pocket could be inadvertently damaging their chances of becoming a father, according to a new study.

Claim babies' lives placed in danger

There is a claim the lives of 20 babies at Waikato Hospital were put at risk when maintenance staff turned off the air to their breathing supply last week.

Fertility: Maybe baby (+audio)

On the eve of the opening of her award-winning play on reproduction, Elisabeth Easther looks at the business of fertility and asks why making babies can be so simple for some and so complex, expensive and heartbreaking.

Greens want abortion law changed

The Green Party wants to make abortion freely available to women up to 20 weeks pregnant.

Weed alters sperm shape

Smoking cannabis can reduce a man's fertility by altering the size and shape of his sperm, research has shown.

Panel: Three-parent science safe

Scientists have called on the British Government to give its immediate approval to laws allowing three-parent babies after experts found the techniques were safe.

Mum meets baby after cutting her throat

A mother who cut her baby's throat was reunited just months later with the child inside the psychiatric facility where she was being treated.

Fertility unfinished at 40

As the rising abortion rate among women over 35 is blamed on their mistaken belief that they are 'past it', we find out the truth about later pregnancy.

Is it Daddy Bill Williams?

Sonny Bill Williams may soon be adding father to his long list of accolades.

Midwife told to apologise

A midwife who stopped monitoring a baby during birth against instruction from an obstetrician has been ordered to apologise to the infants mother over his death.

Mum: Leave boost step in right direction

Auckland mother Catherine Nola feels extending paid parental leave to 18 weeks is a step in the right direction, but says 26 weeks would have been better.

World's oldest sperm found

Scientists have discovered the world's oldest sperm: a "giant" of a cell belonging to a species of tiny shrimp that lived 17 million years ago in what is now modern-day Australia.

Vote battle on for paid parental leave

Tomorrow's Budget is expected to include something for parents after Labour introduced its policy to raise paid parental leave - but how far it is likely to go?

Conjoined twins amaze doctors

Extremely rare Australian conjoined twins born with one body, one head and two faces have amazed their doctors after managing to breathe on their own.

Reunited 77 years after adoption

A 102-year-old mother has told of her joy and astonishment at being reunited with the daughter she gave up for adoption more than seven decades ago.

Mum hopes ad will help with new baby

Sperm donors are so in demand there is up to a two-year wait, prompting one woman to fork out thousands of dollars to find one faster.