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BBC News
30-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Rosie Wrighting MP calls for bereavement suites in new maternity units
A proposal to ensure bespoke bereavement suites are built into all new maternity units has been brought before Labour MP for Kettering, Rosie Wrighting, presented her Maternity Units Bill on Tuesday, in the House of bill would make it a legal requirement for newly built maternity units to include private bereavement spaces, ensuring grieving families are not placed alongside those experiencing the joy of childbirth."[Losing a baby] is made more difficult, when [mothers] experience this in a maternity ward... surrounded by mothers and families celebrating new life," Wrighting told the Commons. "For parents where the local hospital has a dedicated bereavement suite away from the main labour ward, they can process that pain in privacy and peace." According to figures from bereavement charity Sands, 13 families in the UK lose a baby each day before, during, or shortly after Kettering General Hospital, (KGH,) families who suffered baby loss were previously placed in rooms within the main labour ward. That changed after the launch of the Twinkling Stars Appeal in 2019, which raised £1m for a new bereavement suite, now under construction as part of a maternity unit Wrighting, who herself was born a premature baby at KGH, said: "Kettering General cares for up to 100 families a year who lose a baby. "They will now be cared for in a suite that has a bereavement area with... a cold cot for precious time with their babies."What we can do is try... not to add to those feelings and make an awful situation even worse by not providing support in an understanding environment."The bill will now go to a second reading on 16 May. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
03-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
MP's petition 'to protect' Rutland sent to Parliament
A petition to protect Rutland's ceremonial status has been submitted to county's independent unitary council is under threat due to local government reorganisation which could see some councils being aim is to create larger, simpler councils which could then attract more powers and funding through a strategic mayor.A number of proposals have already been put forward for the area, however MP Alicia Kearns wants to at least retain Rutland's Lord Lieutenants and High Sheriffs and launched the petition in February. 'Ceremonial status at risk' Charlie Pallett, the Rutland Blogger and the George and Dragon pub in Seaton came in support of the addition, 17 pubs in all helped to gather signatures on paper - the only form acceptable for petitions to the time of the launch, Kearns said: "We have six weeks to make clear to Government we are Rutlanders and intend to stay as such and put a stop to the Government stripping us of our identity."The petition was signed by 7,141 individuals, the equivalent of more than one in six Rutlanders. In parliament on Wednesday night, Kearns added: "I don't think the government intended to put our ceremonial status at risk, but the consequences of their reform to local government have done exactly that. "No other county is in this position."The MP says a change to the Lieutenancies Act 1997 will be required to protect the county's status.
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Doctors back total ban on smacking children in England
Leading child doctors have joined calls for a complete ban on smacking children in England, saying there is no evidence it has any positive effect on their smacking is unlawful in England, except in cases where it amounts to a "reasonable punishment".Now the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) wants that legal defence to be removed, using an amendment to a law which is currently making its way through Department for Education said the government had no plans to change the law on smacking, but that it was committed to giving every child the best start in life. Prof Andrew Rowland, RCPCH officer for child protection, said: "Now is the time for this Victorian-era punishment to go."If enough MPs backed the amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, tabled by Labour MP Jess Asato in January, then the defence of smacking as a "reasonable punishment" would be completely outlawed in the situation on smacking children is different depending on where you are in the Scotland and Wales, corporal - or physical - punishment is illegal, but in England and Northern Ireland the "reasonable punishment" defence still England, the defence is included in the Children Act of 2004, but smacking children has been permitted by law since was the first UK country to ban corporal punishment in November 2020, followed by Wales in March Rowland said there were 67 countries around the world which had already adopted smacking bans, with a further 20 committing to do government said it was "looking closely" at the changes made in Scotland and Wales, but had no plans to legislate on smacking at this stage.A spokesperson said the bill in its current form represented the "single biggest piece of child protection legislation in a generation". "This government has prioritised significant reform of the children's social care system, driving better child protection and information sharing between education, health and social workers to stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks," they at a baby sensory group in Sale, Greater Manchester, told the BBC they were all against smacking children, but some were unsure about whether it was right for the government to Leanne Casey, said parents "should be able to discipline how they see fit", but added: "I don't agree with smacking children though, so if a ban is what it takes then I'd agree that is what you need to do."Dad Oli Harrison said he would "never intervene" in another person's parenting methods, but added that a ban would "probably be beneficial" to avoid it being seen as a "grey area". When looking at populations as a whole, Prof Rowland said physical punishment "undoubtedly harms children's health".He said there were no scientific studies which provided robust evidence that smacking had any positive effect on children's for a ban on smacking intensified after the death of 10-year-old Sara was murdered in August 2023 after a "campaign of torture" by her father and stepmother which lasted for two father, who had fled to Pakistan after the murder, had phoned police in England claiming he had "legally punished" Sara before her is unlawful in England to assault a child causing actual or grievous bodily harm, or cruelty, but Prof Rowland said academic studies had shown children who were punished physically were at an increased risk of serious physical said a complete ban on smacking would make it easier for the authorities to "draw a line and say there are never any circumstances involved where physical punishment of children is ever legal".Other organisations, including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, have also backed the Barrett, from the charity, said smacking had been associated with "depression, anxiety, increased aggression, and antisocial behaviour".She said a legal change was needed "urgently", adding that "right now we know physical punishment remains a part of childhood for too many young people in England".Lynn Perry, chief executive of the Barnardo's children's charity, said: "No violence against children is acceptable. And yet children continue to face less legal protection against physical assault than adults."Additional reporting by Hope Rhodes
