Practical Parenting & Pregnancy magazine looks at changing attitudes for anniversary edition

The amount of time new mums spend in hospital has dropped dramatically, according to the findings of a survey carried out for Practical Parenting & Pregnancy Magazine.

To celebrate its 25th anniversary in April, the magazine carried out a survey and questioned over 8oo women who have become parents during the last 30 years to find out how things have changed.

During the 1970s, 36 per cent of mums stayed in hosptial for over a week after giving birth.

This had fallen to just 3 per cent by 2010 with 26 per cent of mums going home the same day or staying just over night.

Disciplining children by smacking has also changed, with 77 per cent of parents smacking in the 1970s. This dropped to 67 per cent in the 90s then down to 36 per cent for those having children in the 2000s.

Practical Parenting & Pregnancy editor Daniella Delaney says: “It’s fascinating to see how pregnancy, birth and bringing up children have reflected the social changes in our society and changing health information.”