It has been reported this week that the Royal Mail are increasing the rates of first and second class postage stamps. Moya Greene, head of Royal Mail, this week announced a whacking 30 per cent increase in the price of a first-class stamp from 46p to 60p.  Second-class stamps will rise by even more, from 36p to 50p.

Now the cynical amongst us may comment that Miss Greene, whose £500,000 a year salary makes her one of our highest-paid public employees, made her price-rise decision with brisk unsentimentality and this coupled with her reference to the fact that this is less than the price of most chocolate bars is difficult to swallow (unlike said chocolate bar). I happened to comment on Twitter that most small businesses dont buy countless chocolate bars a day but they do despatch countless orders by Royal Mail. (This was subsequently supported by a number of fellow small businesses).

This wont only affect small businesses but think about families at Christmas time, will you still send cards to all your relatives around the country if the cost of a couple of book of stamps is the difference between your children having snacks that week or not? In a tough economic climate, where families struggle to make ends meet, I think less and less people will use the service, despite the Royal Mail reporting that it is still the best value service in Europe.

In an era where email is already taking over the age old handwritten letter, these price rises dont inspire use of our Royal Mail system. There is something about a letter, they have an intimacy, you can hold them, smell them and in your temper burn or shred them if you so wish ...... hitting a delete button on a computer just doesnt have the same effect.

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With all this beautiful weather, spring has definately sprung! So do you throw open your windows and start your spring clean or with a million other jobs, is a spring clean far down your list? We have teamed up with our friends at Rug Doctor and they have shared some interesting facts (some to make your skin crawl) and some great spring cleaning tips!

Did you know the average family of four sheds up to 3lbs of skin per year? Or that your carpet can hold up to 2lbs of dirt per square foot? Surprisingly, despite these shocking facts over 80 per cent of homeowners have never washed their carpets! As well as this, 45 per cent of homeowners don’t remove their shoes before walking on their carpets and worryingly, four out of ten people eat food which has been dropped on the floor.  With a rise in a hectic lifestyle and the onset of the economic downturn, the traditional Spring Clean is no longer a top priority which is why many of us rarely spend time or money deep cleaning our carpets.

Which is why Rug Doctor, the carpet cleaning experts have come up with some top tips for spring cleaning that won’t burden your finances or your time!

1. Take it one room at a time

Make sure you plan ahead and choose where to begin, make a list of the areas you want to target and tackle them one step at a time. Be sure to budget time for distractions too-unexpected visitors and phone calls are inevitable!

2. Declutter before your clean

Always declutter before a polish, make sure your area is good to go before you don your gloves and spray.

3. Deep clean those carpets

Nothing refreshes a room more than a clean carpet, and hiring a Rug Doctor can have your carpets looking, feeling and smelling as good as new in no time.

4. Make your vases blooming lovely

What better way to freshen up your home than with a bunch of sweet-smelling blooms. Handpick some flowers from your garden for a sweet smelling aroma.

5. Add a splash of vinegar to make those windows shine

A top tip for making those windows squeaky clean is to add some vinegar to water and spray onto the glass, then simply wipe clean with a dust free cloth.

6. Care for your curtains

Are your curtains looking drab? Well take them down, remove the hooks and give them a quick cycle in the dryer with a wet towel to rid the dust.

7. Revamp your wardrobe

Empty your wardrobe of all your clothes and give it a good scrub, you never know you might find a couple of items you’d forgotten about too.

8. Open the windows for fresh air

Winter is over so open up those windows and let the good fresh air billow through your home.

9. Start from the top and work your way down

With each room start at the ceiling and get rid of the cobwebs before working your way down walls and finishing with the floor.

10. Get the kids to lend a hand

Share the workload with your loved ones, even the most unwilling helper can make a big difference in the work load.

For more information on Rug Doctor please go to http://www.rugdoctor.co.uk/

Did you know it was World Doula Week?

According to the official website, the purpose of World Doula Week ("WDW") is to "empower doulas all over the world to improve the physiological, social, emotional, and psychological health of women, newborns and families in birth and in the postpartum period".

One of the many benefits of having a doula present can be that can help breastfeeding initiation and continuation. Feeding is particularly topical for me this week, having heard it reported that babies who are fed on demand have a higher IQ than those who are put into a "Gina Ford" style routine. I admit that I read Gina Ford and personally felt that her techniques were very regimented and I didnt want to shut my baby into a dark room on her own. However I did use the Contented Little Baby Book as a reference guide for a  basic routine to our day.

Now thats what pregnant and new mums tend to do, they read, they research and listen to advice given, so when it is reported that if you didnt demand feed your baby, it is likely to have a lower IQ, I can just imagine mums across the country worrying that they have made the right or wrong choices for their child.

Joanne Dewberry commented on our facebook page by saying "its a great way to make tired, emotional, hard working mums feel poo!! all those mums out there not feeding on demand will now be worrying about whether they have caused their child low IQ .. a few weeks ago it was babies who feed themselves against those being spoonfeed. My suggestion bog off let us mums do what we think is best"

Whereas Laura Rigney stated "I was all about routines where possible, by the time I got to number three most of the routines were out the window "

Rebekah Harriman agreed with Joanne by commenting "Everything is contradictory and designed to make us feel rubbish about whatever choices we may have made. Mothers are judged enough as it is without being made to worry about choices they have already made and can't undo"

So having a Doula can help to increase parents confidence during birth and with their new baby and whether you employ a trained Doula or have a trusted birthing partner, I think you also need to prepare for the guilt that experts, reports and the national press give to mums.

I am sure that ALL mums try and do their best for their children, so if my daughter suffers a few IQ points from having a routine in her life, I hope she will forgive me ..... although with a consistent routine at least she knows what time dinner will be!!

There was an article in the Daily Mail yesterday about Homeopathy and how one expert considered it "worthless".

This is obviously one mans opinion, which from some of the comments on the article is echoed by some of the general public but when the NHS spent £4 million pounds last year on Homeopathy remedies last year, there are calls from the British Medical Association for this funding to end.

Homeopathy works for some people and I believe in the freedom of choice and the ability to make an informed decision. I am certainly no expert about Homeopathy but surely the NHS cant fund something that doesnt have results?

When I had my second baby, I used hypnobirthing, which is something that wasnt funded by the NHS and again is something that some people consider to be poppycock but I have no doubt that this was better for me, my baby and ultimately saved the NHS a bed!! So who is to say what is right or wrong, surely people are allowed the choice??

Daily Mail article