Does ovulation affect your choice of clothing?

I'm fascinated by some new research which shows that women buy more daring clothes when they are ovulating and imagined it must be to make themselves look and feel more attractive to men. Apparently, the researchers found that outdoing other women was the key factor rather than a simple desire to impress the opposite sex.

The women who chose the more daring clothes were not only ovulating, but had also been shown photos of attractive local women. Apparently the effect wasn't the same when they were shown pictures of less attractive women, or those who lived thousands of miles away, and in these cases they didn't opt for the daring outfits.

The research was carried out by a team at the Carlson School of Management in Minnesota and published in the Journal of Consumer Research - you can read more at www.csom.umn.edu

Pregnancy after miscarriage

How soon can you try to get pregnant again after a miscarriage? The conventional wisdom has been that women should wait for at least six months, and some recommend waiting as long as eighteen months. However, others have always believed that trying to get pregnant again as soon as possible could in fact enhance a woman’s chances of recovery.

This new study in Scotland looked at the outcome of pregnancy in women who’d had a previous miscarriage. The women were divided into groups depending on how long they had waited to try to get pregnant again. The researchers at Aberdeen University found that those who had conceived within six months of an earlier miscarriage were less likely to lose another baby or to have an ectopic pregnancy, and they were also less likely to give birth prematurely or have a baby with a low birth weight.

The researchers concluded that it was probably unncessary for women to try to delay conception after miscarriage unless there are specific issues that may indicate it is necessary. You can read more about the research at www.bmj.com

Superdrug deal on IVF drugs

Anyone who has had fertility treatment will know that the cost of the drugs can send the total bill soaring, and patients are often advised to shop around to get a reasonable deal on the drugs they will need.

Now Superdrug has announced plans to dispense fertility drugs with no mark-up on the cost - and this will also apply to other privately prescribed prescriptions. This is due to come into effect right away so if you're about to start a treatment cycle, it is worth checking the price at Superdrug as well as any other outlet you may be considering. However, do keep in mind that when Asda announced a similar scheme for fertility drugs a while back, some NHS hospital pharmacies were cheaper - so do make sure you check!

You can read more about the Superdrug plans here