One of the questions I often get asked is: "What should I do to prepare my body for pregnancy?" Trying to start a family can be a challenge, and many women want to know all the facts to give themselves the best chance of conception and give their baby the best start in life

As with a lot of fertility issues, there are a lot of myths and a lot of rumours about high blood pressure in pregnancy. As a scientist, a doctor, and a mother, I firmly believe that all women have a right to know the facts about their fertility, health and wellbeing.

Of all the feelings you expect to go through when you're diagnosed with this deadly disease, guilt is not top of the list. Yet almost all the fellow cancer survivors I've met since my diagnosis say they've felt guilt to some degree.

How do you get your iron levels back up the natural way? The best way is to increase your intake of iron rich foods. If you are prescribed iron tablets by your doctor for any reason, please do take them but to avoid getting to that severe point where you would need tablets, include iron rich foods as part of your daily diet.

Looks like spring is finally on its way but with the very limited amount of sunlight, we need to look to boosting our bodies with supplements. Where am I going with this? Vitamin D - the "sunshine vitamin".

I felt very honoured to be invited to a very unique event last week. After 16 years of fundraising Asda's Tickled Pink campaign was celebrating as they have raised a landmark £30 million for two breast cancer charities: Breast Cancer Care and Breast Cancer Campaign.

I got a phone call from my doctor recently, telling me that a recent blood test showed that I was 'post-menopausal'. I didn't quite know how to respond to this news. I didn't feel post-menopausal. My body seemed to be still following somewhat familiar rhythms.

Now you're three, I'm still 33 and two weeks out of chemo. There's a way to go but the future is bright. I'm a good reason for people not giving up the fight with cancer - we're winning!

Breast cancer isn't just the disease of a 'friend of a friend' or a 'cousins friend' or even of a distant relative once removed. We're surrounded by people and their families who are affected by it. Real people, with real bodies and feelings and emotions that will change forever following their treatment.

A pregnant mother's placenta can transmit damaging effects of stress to her unborn child, say researchers. The impact is felt by a protein that aff...

Having heard about the 'wonders' of high intensity interval training via a short item on BBC news, I decided it could be my kind of exercise. As a...

A new study has shown that thigh fat may be to blame for slowing down your walking speed in later life. According to research by the Wake Forest Ba...

For example, if you develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy you have a much higher likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes in middle age. If you have high blood pressure during pregnancy you have a higher risk of suffering a stroke or heart disease in later life.

As I write this piece today, on February 1st 2013, I have lost 12 kilos (that's just over 26 pounds for those who don't do kilos) and I am, as you can imagine, quite chipper about that and very happy with the result.

I never believed in the word depression, let alone postnatal depression, how could anyone possibly be depressed after having a baby I wondered?

I am writing this blog post on December 31st. Tonight my family and I are going celebrate New Year's Eve with some wonderful friends. We'll be in good company, good food will be served and I will enjoy it immensely and have no boring killjoy thoughts of diets and exercise. But next year (that's tomorrow, of course) the diet begins.

The reason we love chocolates so much is because it helps release serotonin in the brain which gives us a good feeling. Chocolate gets a bad vibe because most of the chocolate sold in stores have a high amount of added sugar, fat, Trans fats and preservatives.

I wholeheartedly agree with Mary's view that whilst we all want specialists who acquire increasing knowledge about a disease we also want to be cared for as a person.

Dear Santa, I never imagined I would spend most of the year fighting breast cancer. Please bring me a full head of hair in 2013 and a cancer-free future for me and all those I love!

Many of my female friends over forty are feeling daunted by the imminent onset of the 'change'. It looms on our horizon like a gathering storm of ancient soot and carnage. Our air is heavy with anticipation, we're all forecasting doom and it has to stop.