All unequal but some more unequal than others: maternal health risks in life style and culture

摘要

n the first half of January 2009 there was news from a hospital in Glasgow that the maternity unit 'has been forced to revise its obesity threshold to cope with a growing number of severely overweight patients' (Sunday Times 2009); a couple in Leeds were refused the chance to adopt a baby because the husband was 'too fat' (BBC News 2009); and in contrast France's justice minister, Mme Rachida Dati, returned to work, looking fit and very slim, five days after giving birth to a baby girl. The issue of questionable eating habits and consequent risks to health, especially around childbirth, is a serious and increasing one in industrialised countries.