Drinking during pregnancy

Hi everyone,

A report this morning announces that drinking in small amounts might actually be good for your baby during pregnancy.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. Before you can say 'tequila slammer', pregnant women may misunderstand the result, and think it's ok to have a couple more units than they would have done. It is potentially misleading, and could invite excessive alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Let's face it, how good can alcohol be for a foetus? And if an 'amount' of alcohol is good for the baby, it's not going to be more than an eye bath full I bet. And what's the point in having a sip of wine for its 'health' benefits? Why not just do something else that's good for the baby's development, like eating a healthy diet rich in vitamins and iron?

Opinions please???

I need to speak to some pregnant Preston women on this matter...

Cervical cancer vaccine

What does everyone think? Should 13 year old girls be offered this vaccine for free? I certainly think so. But there was a Catholic school, in Bury I think it was, who refused to offer it to their pupils. I wonder what the general consensus is in school around Preston?

What does everyone else think? Are we really encouraging sexual promiscuity if we offer a vaccine helping to protect against an STD virus? Or is it just plain common sense to educate teenagers about the risks, then back this up by providing protection? I'm with the latter.

Welcome to the Preston blog

Hello,

My name is Alexandra McGowan. I am training to be a newspaper journalist at the University of Central Lancashire.

Welcome to my blog about health and social services in Preston town centre.

Aside from my specialist areas of interest, I will also be investigating the general goings on around the town centre. No matter how seemingly insignificant, I'll be looking into it.

You never know when an exclusive is round the corner...so let me know if you see or hear anything exciting.