“I have little Anglo-envy: the rain is dreadful, the beer is flat, and the pound is whooping my dollar’s ass. But in the case of maternity care, I can understand my American friend Jo’s sentiment, ‘Thank God I’m not trying to do this in the States!’” Read more on the Huffington Post.

Women often need prescription meds to cope with the pain following a cesarean section or even an episiotomy. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now warning nursing moms about codeine, which the body metabolizes into morphine. “Ultra rapid” metabolizers can pass on deadly amounts to the baby via breast milk. “The morphine is excreted into breast milk in amounts that can cause limpness, excessive sleepiness, feeding difficulties and breathing problems in newborns,” according to this article in the Washington Post. Last year, a 13-day old Toronto infant died of a morphine overdose that was traced to his mother’s codeine.