penis dysmorphobia? not me then! I have a small penis, but I love it when compared to bigger ones by girls, size queens, oh we are all freaks when it comes to sex, internet to blame??? sexual fantasies are a persons most hidden secrets!

Adam Webb, MK, UK

I cannot understand how women, just because they had a good birth experience at home can criticise hospital births. Forty years ago I had a son in hospital and was made to deliver on my back with feet in stirrups! We were both fine but a friend of that period had a difficult birth at home. I felt glad I had mine in hospital. My second delivery was still in hospital but the birth was so easy it could have happened at home. When I became pregnant for the 3rd time I had to almost beg to go into hosital. Thanks goodness I needed a lot of help and care afterwards. My point being - we can never predict how well a delivery may be. Please ladies forget about how wonderful you want the experience to be and concentrate on a safe healthy baby and a "rest" afterwards.

fran of norwich, norwich, norfolk

Re: Aspirin and flying. Some experts suggest that, as aspirin acts mainly on the arterial system and blood clots form in the veins, aspirin has no part in the prevention of clots.

Vivian, Hvar Island, Croatia

...another argument implying that childbirth is a disaster waiting to happen and is only safe in retrospect.

Can someone in the media please do some research on the training of midwives (and the ongoing training once qualified)? It is mandatory that midwives train in neonatal resuscitation techniques every year, and are also trained to deal with most obstetric emergencies (be it at home, on the bus, in a yurt, or up a mountain). Midwives support and promote the normality of birth, but equally are also trained to recognize the parameters of normality so that when a deviation is seen, appropriate help is sought: and that includes transfer to hospital if attending a homebirth.

Planning for a home birth is not final and binding and not forced on women (despite what the media would have us think). Midwives offer 'informed choice': pros and cons (based on extensive research) are discussed and the woman makes up her own mind. Something the medics often fail to consider...

Hacked off student midwife, London,

With modern forensic, post-natal techniques paediatric neurologists can tell by acidosis in the cord blood precisely how minutes of oxygen deprivation a baby suffered during a delayed birth and how much additional brain-damage each successive minute caused. So, at least if something does go wrong during a home birth it should be possible to discover afterwards whether being 5 minutes away from emergency intervention or 15 would have made much of a difference. Not much comfort to the new mother of a disabled child of course, but it might reassure her that the home birth was not necessarily an enormous factor in her child's lifelong impairment as 5 minutes might have meant her child would someday walk and talk and 15 that they would do one or the other but not both. Imagine what it must be like for a healthy, full-term baby struggling to be born and to breathe with its cord failing but stuck helpless inside its mother. This is real life and its a life-sentence for parent and child.

Michelle, Chislehurst, UK

Hi as a midwife currently providing a homebirth service then the importance that should be placed on a womans instincts can not be underestimated. Midwifery practice is evidence based but also works "with woman" to ensure that where possible the pregnancy experience meets her wishes and expectations. In the case of homebirth I have looked after many women who "safely" deliver at home but conversely have transferred women into hospital due to them not feeling happy at home or complications arising (as can happen in hospital labour). It is unusual for complications to arise out of the blue and with watchful, competent midwives any problems can be pre-empted and acted on. It is also important as midwives that we listen to women as they are most aware of what is happening to their bodies. In this current climate it is important that womens choice is valued and supported where possible. For appropriately assessed women with straight forward pregnancies home birthshould always be an option.

Lucy , East Anglia,

With Dr Stuttaford’s response to Margaret in London, all is made clear: agree with him, and receive a pat on the back as a good girl. Disagree, and receive a reply that is patronising or verging on the rude reply. Little woman, know your place, and do as doctor tells you.

Incidentally, I was born in hospital in the mid-seventies to a mother of thirty, my younger sisters at home a few years later. Re. the long-term study Dr Stuttaford suggests, of the three of us only I have ever been hospitalised, and otherwise we are all healthy, intelligent, and and productive members of society. It's hardly a proper study, but it's just as good evidence as "I had to have a forceps delivery, thank goodness I was in hosptial", when hospitalized brith itself increases the likelihood in a low-risk birth of a forceps delivery.

Catherine, Oxford,

I suffered from severe joint pain and extremely painful feet for two years at the start of my menopause. I was referred to Arthritis Clinic which took around 9 months before being seen there (leaving me to suffer and deal with the side-effects of medication which did little if anything to help), until I read of an old remedy of two capfuls of cider vinegar added to cup of boiled hot water with two teaspoons of Manuka honey to taste. Take this twice to three times a day. Its not a cuppa you would want to take time over drinking, but a small cup of this taken as above over a period of three months, resulted in very little joint pain now and pain free feet for the first time in two years. The joy of walking now is something I never take for granted.

Try sea kelp supplements to help thicken hair.

Isovon (Soy Isoflavones) may be worth trying also.
I empathise with all you are experiencing but good luck.

Sylvia, Glasgow, Scotland

..I have been losing hair from fringe and temple area very slowly over last 2/3 years and deduct that it is probably male pattern baldness resulting from falling oestrogen levels.As I have an extremley high hairline anyway and have always used fringe to soften severe look it is very de
pressing to think that by the time my menopause is over I could lose a lot more(as Idid after birth of my 2 children).I'm 50,eat lots of fruit,veg,soya ,pulses and even red meat I have had negative tests for underactive thyroid ,anaemia and abnormal testosterone levels I.have taken all sorts of supplements to no avail and would willingly take H.R.T. if this slowed down hair loss.Is there really nothing I can do?My French GP won't even do a hormone test until I have been period free for at least 6 months,despite extreme fatigue,joint pain,bad temper and memory problems.

Thomas Julie, Le Mans, France