APPLE seems an unusual name choice for actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay musician Chris Martin's new baby.

It doesn't go with Paltrow and Apple Martin sounds like a rather nice pudding.

But it was pleasing to see Gwyneth taking the midwife's advice and going into hospital rather than having a home birth. Whatever the reason, it's certain that the midwife had the best interests of mother and baby at heart.

Not everyone takes the midwife's advice, which is silly because they're highly trained and generally experienced in what can go wrong as well as what should go right.

Insisting on pain-relieving epidurals (spinal injections), which not only increase the likelihood of a Caesarean but can also adversely effect the mother's blood pressure, is understandable but worrying.

Pain-free labour sounds wonderful. But the reality is that natural childbirth does involve some pain - fortunately, soon forgotten by most of us.