19/10/2009

Synopsis

Woman's Hour with Jane Garvey. Including:

The chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson has said that it is important for pregnant women to be immunised against swine flu as they have a particularly high risk of complications. Why are pregnant women so at risk from the infection? Is swine flu any more dangerous than seasonal flu? And when in the pregnancy should women be vaccinated?

How much should you ration your children's screen time - their use of computers, games consoles, TVs and all the other electronic gadgets on the market? Are we in danger of rearing a generation of emotionally stunted children with deficient attention spans, no creativity and an inability to interact in the real world, all because of the excessive time they've spent in front of a screen? Or do computer games teach essential life skills to children?

'Dear Mr Bigelow'. In 1949, Frances Woodsford started writing letters to a wealthy American widower called Commodore Paul Bigelow. There was no romance between the two, and they never met, but in the twelve years that followed they delighted in receiving each other's letters. Frances talks about her correspondence, and about becoming a published author for the first time at the age of 94.

In 2002, Jennifer Pike became the youngest ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year award, when she scooped the prize aged just twelve. She'll be playing live and talking about finding success so young.