Brave Claudia deserves her Bafta nod
I WAS thrilled to see Claudia Winkleman, left, nominated for a Bafta – she has breathed new life into Strictly. And what a lovely boost for her given the horrendous six months she’s had after her eight-year-old daughter Matilda was hospitalised with burns following a freak Halloween accident. The scars from such injuries are physically and psychologically traumatic, and Claudia has remained fiercely private about her daughter’s recovery. Good for her. Yet she has thrown her considerable celebrity status behind a St John Ambulance scheme for free lifesaving lessons for 50,000 children, echoing The Mail on Sunday’s campaign to add first aid to the school curriculum. Whoever wins the British Academy gong, Claudia’s an absolute champ in my book. POP star Avril Lavigne set tongues wagging when she disappeared from the public eye for months. It has now been revealed that the 30-year-old singer had Lyme disease, a bacterial infection passed to humans from a tiny tick bite. Avril, who likened her illness to ‘having the life sucked out of you’, is thankfully on the road to recovery. Up to 3,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported in England and Wales every year. It sounds harmless enough but, if left untreated, it can cause joint pain and inflammation, facial nerve palsies and even inflammation of the heart. It is treatable with antibiotics, but diagnosis can be difficult as many don’t realise they have been bitten.
THERE is a story doing the rounds on science blogs at the moment warning those who buy breast milk via the internet that it’s highly likely to be contaminated with either harmful bugs or cow’s milk. Or both. I am not sure what is stranger: that people choose to buy breast milk or that the sellers are artificially topping it up.
If women who can’t produce enough of their own opt to source donor milk, it is only safe to do it from bona fide regulated milk banks or within hospitals that are verified safe sources. The worry for vulnerable babies is that donor milk obtained via sharing websites is infected or non-hygienic. I would have thought a random website is the last place a concerned mother should be buying her baby milk.