10 h. ago Do we think enough about parents who care for sick or disabled children – and how not to make things harder? | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Mina Holland’s book about parenting her seriously unwell daughter sheds light on the situation faced by so many, and the complicated psychology at playWhen you have a baby, especially if you’re in an antenatal class, or friends or family members have a child of about the same age, there is a feeling that you’re all in it together, at least at first. For me this big, life-transforming event might have felt intensely personal, but the shared connection with other new parents, who were also learning on the job, not to mention the books – Your Baby Week By Week, The Wonder Weeks – can trick you into thinking that the path is a predictable one.From hourly feeds and wake-ups to sleeping through the night, breast- and bottle-feeding to solids, crawling to walking, maternity leave to nursery to school, the journey may have slightly different scenery, but the impression given is that ultimately it ends up in the same place. Continue reading...

Society

59 h. ago 'We're sick with worry cruel EHCP cuts will destroy our disabled childrens' lives'

Four families who have battled to get Education Health Care Plans ((EHCPs) fear government reforms of the SEND system will strip away the legal protections for their children

Society

1 week ago Voices: Wes Streeting is right to listen to bereaved parents – and I am one of them

The health secretary has realised something that decades of policymakers have failed to realise, writes Louis Pilard – listening to parents like me who have lost a baby is key to improving the NHS’s maternity services

Politics

1 week ago ‘Basically impossible to get them back’: Russia’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children is a war crime, say experts

As territories shift and divide families, desperate parents are travelling to Russia to find their children, many of whom have been moved into military camps or orphanagesAs many as 35,000 Ukrainian children are still missing and thought to be held in Russia or Russian-occupied territories, according to an American team of experts, with families saying they are being forced to take desperate and risky measures to try to rescue them.As Russian forces began their invasion in February 2022, children were abducted from care homes, from the battlefield after the death of their parents, or under coercion directly from their families. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Around 300,000 disabled and sick Scots to 'lose £500' under Labour welfare cuts

EXCLUSIVE: The charity Trussell has laid bare the impact of the proposed cuts on disabled people

Economics

2 w. ago 'People have said it's a bit sad, but I couldn’t care less what others think of my parenting'

Emma Stretton has a different approach to the tooth fairy

Politics

3 w. ago Families of trans kids worry about what's next after Supreme Court rules on gender

A U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors is leaving transgender children and their parents uncertain and anxious about its impact

Events

last month Woman has 600 mile round trip to care for frail parents but gets just £83

She has been forced to give up her job as she juggles her dad's care with regularly making a gruelling 11-hour round-trip from her home in Swansea to Southend to care for her blind mum, but is paid just £1-an-hour

Economics