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• Man\'s genes \'key to baby\'s sex\'
  A man's genetic make-up may play a role in whether he has sons or daughters, a study of hundreds of years of family trees suggests.
• Unicef child study disputed by UK
  The UK government has complained about a study saying early years childcare and education in England is falling behind that of other developed nations.
• Pop tunes used to calm babies
  Rocking a baby to sleep has been given a whole new meaning as mothers ditch traditional lullabies for popular pop and rock tunes.
• Caesarean increases asthma risk
  Babies born by Caesarean section are more prone to developing asthma, say Dutch researchers.
• Left-handers\\\' lower test scores
  Left-handed pupils do less well in tests than their right-handed peers, a study from Bristol University suggests.
• Obesity \'programmed before birth\'
  Eating a high-fat diet in pregnancy may cause changes in the foetal brain that lead to over-eating and obesity early in life, research suggests.

Screening hope for pre-eclampsia

A blood test that screens pregnant woman for pre-eclampsia long before symptoms develop could be available in the next five years, doctors predict.

The condition, which leads to the deaths of 1,000 babies each year in the UK alone, could be detected as early as the first trimester, a study suggests.

A predictive test could save many lives by enabling closer monitoring of high-risk pregnancies, experts say.

Routine urine and blood pressure checks can pick it up only after 20 weeks.

Read more.