By Branwen JeffreysHealth correspondent, BBC News
There is a very significant variation in the home birth rate across the UK, from barely more than 1% in some areas to as high as 10% to 12% in others.
It is a gap that can only partly be explained by different policies on maternity services.

Wales has the [...]

An experimental stem cell treatment has enabled patients with type 1 diabetes to go for as long as four years without insulin injections, researchers say.
A US-Brazilian project with 23 patients found most were able to produce their own insulin after a transplant of stem cells from their own bone marrow.
Even those who relapsed needed [...]

VIEWPOINTDr George FernieMedical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland

We’ve all made mistakes in our work. But if you’re a doctor, the consequences can be deadly.
In this week’s health opinion column Scrubbing Up, medical law expert Dr George Fernie looks at what can go wrong – for a GP’s patient or under the knife – and [...]

By Sue EmmettBBC News

Cases of oral allergies to fruit and vegetables are rapidly increasing, according to a British specialist.
Dr Pamela Ewan, an allergy consultant at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, said the rise in cases appears to be outstripping even peanut allergies.
Dr Ewan, who sees more than 8,000 people with allergies a year, [...]