Women who have a miscarriage or stillbirth and parents who are forced to cope with the death of a baby will also be offered increased support from the NHS.

Under the new plans, health workers will be given enhanced training so they can spot the early signs of postnatal depression which leaves mothers feeling low and struggling to look after a child.

The move was welcomed by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and parenting forums as a positive step.

Cathy Warwick, chief executive of the RCM, termed the pledges “very good news” for women and midwives.

“These are positive plans from the Government targeting areas of maternity care that are under prioritised and under-resourced,” she said.

“The impact of a miscarriage or a stillbirth can be devastating for the woman and her family and, postnatal depression can be a crippling and sometimes fatal illness. Early detection and treatment is crucial.

“It is also excellent to see an intention to ensure that long standing NHS commitments, such as one to one care in labour and choice about where and how women give birth, become a reality for all women.”

According to the RCM, 5,000 more midwives would be needed to deliver the care proposed.

Justine Roberts, co-founder of Mumsnet, welcomed the renewed support but said a sustained effort was needed to ensure mothers benefit from the changes.

“Sadly there are many experiences shared on Mumsnet of women not getting the best care when they need it,” she said.

“The announcement that services provided during miscarriage are to be monitored is a real advance towards identifying best and worst practice and therefore towards improving the care received.”

Sally Russell, co-founder of Netmums, also voiced support for plans to address postnatal depression – a common condition which is often kept hidden.

“Most mums and dads find it difficult to admit they are suffering and yet it can be a blight on their lives,” she said.

“Having better support from local services could make a big difference and we’re delighted that the Government has identified this as a priority.”

Alongside beefed-up training for health visitors – who provide services for expectant and new parents after birth – the Government has pledged to improve maternity care by: ensuring women have one named midwife to oversee their care during pregnancy and after they have their baby; making sure every women has one-to-one midwife care and giving parents-to-be the choice over where and how they give birth.

The NHS will also be judged on how well it looks after parents who have miscarried, suffered a stillbirth or cot death, with patients asked to rate their care.

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, 10% to 15% of women suffer from postnatal depression.

Several celebrities, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, have spoken of their experience of the condition which usually starts within a few months of birth. Around one in three women experience symptoms in pregnancy which then continue.

Treatment options depend on the severity of the depression, but include medication and counselling.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “We have listened to the concerns of women about their experiences of maternity care, which is why we are putting in place a ‘named midwife’ policy to ensure consistency of care.

“Not least, we will focus on the quality of care given to mothers-to-be and measure women’s experience of their maternity care for the first time.”

Facebook said in a regulatory filing that about 421 million shares will be sold, up from 337 million under earlier plans. That total does not include more than 63 million additional shares the deal’s underwriters can sell to cover excess demand.

The news comes the day after Facebook raised the expected price range for the stock to 34 to 38 US dollars per share, up from 28 to 35 dollars.

The offering is expected to set the final price tomorrow evening. Shares would start trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the “FB” ticker symbol.

If all the shares, including those being offered to the underwriters, are sold at the high end of the expected price range, the social network’s offering could raise more than 18.4 billion dollars (£11.5 billion). That would make Facebook one of the biggest ever initial public offerings (IPOs).

The company’s IPO is the most hotly anticipated in years and would value Facebook overall at more than 100 billion dollars (£62 billion).

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook says the extra shares being made available are coming from its current shareholders. The selling shareholders are offering approximately 241 million shares, up from about 157 million.

Facebook will not receive any proceeds from the stock sold by the selling shareholders.

The regulatory filing also disclosed that chief executive Mark Zuckerberg will control about 55.8% of the voting power of the company’s outstanding capital stock following the offering. This is down slightly from the 57.3% he was initially expected to have.

Facebook has more than 900 million users who log in at least once a month.

Morgan Stanley leads the team of 33 underwriters selected for the Facebook offering, followed by JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.

VenaSeal is injected into diseased veins so blood is re-routed into healthier veins.

Quicker than existing treatments, it requires less local anaesthetic, and patients can immediately resume normal activities, specialists claim.

Clinical trials of the medical adhesive, developed by US-based company Sapheon, have so far yielded a 100% success rate.

Now a Europe-wide study on 120 patients is being led by specialists at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College, London.

Professor Alun Davies, who has treated 12 patients with his colleague Ian Franklin at London’s Charing Cross hospital, said: “It does seem to work.

“So far it has been very straightforward and all the patients have been fine. One had a complication of inflammation on the skin but that soon settled down.

“However, these are very early results, and how it will compare with other procedures longer-term is difficult to tell.”

Millions of Britons suffer from the unsightly, blueish veins that bulge just below the skin’s surface, typically in the lower leg.

Varicose veins are caused by faulty valves that stop the body from pumping blood up the legs against gravity.

The VenaSeal Sapheon Closure System involves injecting tiny amounts of a specially formulated non-toxic medical adhesive directly into diseased veins using a very fine catheter guided by ultrasound.

It seals shut the inner walls of the vein so that blood is re-routed through healthier veins.

Dr Rodney Raabe, Sapheon’s chief medical officer and the consultant radiologist who invented VenaSeal, added: “Patients are not required to wear compression stockings afterwards because compression is not part of the action used to close the vein.

“Unlike laser, radiofrequency and steam treatments, our procedure is also entirely non-energy based so there is no need for expensive equipment to generate heat and no need for local anaesthetic to be administered the full-length of the vein to reduce any pain.”

London taxi driver Peter Bryant, 73, underwent the procedure in March at Charing Cross, the first hospital in the UK to carry out the Sapheon treatment.

Mr Bryant, who had suffered four bouts of the infection in as many months, said: “I went for the new treatment because I could be seen within a few days.

“It was marvellous. I lay on a tilted bed with my feet about two feet higher than my head. Then they put the glue in; I couldn’t really see what was going on but I didn’t feel any pain.

“Afterwards they put some plasters on my leg and I had to sit down with my leg raised for half an hour to rest it.

“The whole visit was over in an hour and I walked out feeling absolutely fine with just very slight bruising that soon disappeared…. It was absolutely wonderful. I’ve had no cellulitis since and my varicose vein is gone.”

VenaSeal is likely to be available more quickly to private patients.

Dr Haroun Gajraj, a former NHS vascular surgeon who now runs a private clinic in Dorset, said: “I need to be sure this new technique will stand the test of time, but I’m certainly impressed by the science behind it and the results so far.”

Sir Mervyn’s warning came as the Bank said the UK economy will not return to pre-financial crisis levels before 2014 after it cut its growth forecasts for the next two years. The Bank now expects growth of around 0.8% this year.

And the squeeze on consumer spending is set to maintain its grip as the rate of inflation falls more slowly than previously expected, remaining above the Government’s 2% target for the next year or so.

While the Bank said it did not see a “meaningful way” of factoring in an extreme financial event – such as the collapse of the euro – into its projections, it said the biggest risk to recovery stems from the single currency bloc, the UK’s main trading partner.

GDP is expected to grow around 2% in 2013, compared with the Bank’s previous estimate of around 3%.

Meanwhile, the consumer prices index (CPI) rate of inflation is not likely to meet the 2% target until mid-2013, rather than the end of the year, and will still be around 2.5% at the end of this year.

Sir Mervyn said weak growth and high inflation have been the unavoidable consequences of the financial crisis, that have been “painful for everyone in our society”.

However, Sir Mervyn said the bigger picture was one of gradual recovery in growth.

He said: “We are navigating through turbulent waters, with the risk of a storm heading our way from the continent.”

Alluding to Manchester City’s last-minute win on Sunday securing the Premier League title, Sir Mervyn added: “Uncertainty can sometimes add a certain spice to life – as we saw vividly in the conclusion to the Premier League season at the weekend – but it has the opposite effect on the economy.

“We don’t know when the storm clouds will move away.”

Prime Minister David Cameron’s official spokesman said: “What… the Bank of England forecasts reflect are the same issues taken into account by the Office for Budget Responsibility when it produced its forecasts at the time of the Budget.

“The governor is highlighting higher-than-expected inflation and obviously the biggest risk to the economy is what is happening in the eurozone.”

Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the report painted a “pretty gloomy picture” but did not suggest the resumption of the Bank’s quantitative easing programme was imminent.

She added: “Growth is now expected to be rather weaker than in February, yet sticky inflation means that the Bank sees little scope for further quantitative easing.”

The Bank’s gloomier view of the UK comes after official figures showed the economy had slipped back into recession following a 0.2% contraction in output in the first quarter of the year.

Its report said growth was not likely to surpass “pre-crisis level before 2014, some six years after the start of the recession”.

The report said inflation was likely to remain above the 2% target for the next year or so, with projected increases in utility prices later this year adding more to CPI inflation than projected three months ago.

Turmoil in the eurozone continues to escalate after Greek political leaders failed to form a coalition government, forcing a new election in June.

The country could be denied further EU bailout funds if a party opposing necessary austerity measures comes to power, which could in turn lead to Greece exiting the euro.

But the Bank said it did not see a “meaningful way” to quantify the impact of such extreme financial events and did not include them in its projections.

It said: “The likelihood that the substantial challenges within the euro area will lead to significant economic and financial disruption continues to pose the greatest threat to the UK recovery.”

Sir Mervyn confirmed plans were being drawn up by the Bank, the Treasury and Financial Services Authority in the event of a worst-case scenario such as the break-up of the eurozone.

He added: “Contingency plans are being discussed and have been for some time.”

The number of elderly people having their home care services fully paid for by their local authority has fallen by 11% over the past two years in spite of an ageing population, statistics obtained by the Labour Party have shown.

The figures showed the average charge for an hour of home care increased by 10% between 2009/10 and 2012/13 from £12.29 to £13.61.

There were also wide variations in the cost of care, ranging from free home care in the east London borough of Tower Hamlets to £21.50 an hour in Brighton and Hove.

The Labour Party said 121 out of 153 councils in England – 79% – responded to a freedom of information request on home care charges.

The increase in home care charges means the average annual cost for an older or disabled person who pays for 10 hours of home care a week has increased to £7,077 a year in 2012/13 – up more than £680 since 2009/10, according to the Labour Party.

Shadow care minister Liz Kendall said: “These increases in home care charges are a stealth tax on the most vulnerable people in society.

“Fewer older people are getting their care for free, and more older and disabled people are being forced to pay more for vital services that help them get up, washed, dressed and fed.

“These services are a lifeline for older and disabled people and crucial to help them stay living independently in their own homes.”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4′s Today programme, she called on the Government to take “urgent action”.

“Older people are struggling to get the care they need now, they are being charged more now, they should be taking action now,” she said.

She added that Labour was “absolutely committed” to finding a cross-party agreement on the issue.

“It’s a long-term challenge facing families and society, and we need to try to get that cross-party agreement so that things don’t change and people can properly plan for when they get older,” she said.

She said she was “disappointed” that the Government was promising only a draft Bill during this session of parliament.

A spokeswoman for the Alzheimer’s Society said many people with dementia and their carers were already struggling to pay for home care and some might not be able to afford the increased prices.

“The extortionate costs in some parts of the country don’t even guarantee good quality care. This is disgraceful,” she said.

“Home care services are vital in helping to maintain quality of life for people living with dementia.”

Singer Cerys Matthews performed two songs including the Bob Dylan classic Blowin’ in the Wind and former foreign secretary David Miliband read a poem at a packed service in St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, London, celebrating the life of the Sunday Times journalist killed in Syria in February.

The congregation heard tributes to Ms Colvin from John Witherow, editor of The Sunday Times, and BBC foreign correspondent Lyse Doucet as well as a poem composed by Alan Jenkins, deputy editor of the Times Literary Supplement and a close friend of Ms Colvin.

Mr Witherow described Colvin as the “greatest war correspondent of her generation” whose death had sparked an outpouring of grief throughout the world.

“Marie inspired love, affection and respect wherever she went. She had a gift of friendship and she nurtured many friends with as much love as she cared for her journalism,” he said.

“She always seemed to have unlimited time for young journalists at the outset of their careers and so we will be setting up a Marie Colvin scholarship in her honour.”

He added: “Everyone here knows we have lost someone unbelievably special and our lives are poorer for not being able to see that smile, hear that throaty laugh and simply enjoy the company of a remarkable woman who was the greatest war correspondent of her generation.”

Ms Colvin, who was 56, was killed on February 22 when the building that served as a makeshift media centre in the city of Homs was struck by a Syrian army mortar.

Those present at the service included her mother Rosemarie and sister Cat as well as Foreign Secretary William Hague and former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.

Mr Witherow told the congregation Ms Colvin was aware of the dangers of her job as a war reporter.

“Marie certainly knew the dangers and talked about the risks. She had lost friends,” he said.

“Losing her eye in Sri Lanka led her into such a depression that she almost gave it all up but she came back because she was excited by the Arab Spring and because she thought she could really make a difference.

“Tyrants hate the spotlight of publicity because it not only exposes their abuse of power but it can sometimes stay their hand.

“If anyone could stay their hands, it was Marie, and as she showed in East Timor her bravery there did save many lives.”

The service also heard from Ms Doucet, who had worked with Ms Colvin in Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt and Libya and had just returned from Syria.

“The bravest of the brave was also the kindest of the kind,” she said.

“Marie never thought of gender when it came to the way she reported and the way she travelled.

“She worked with the best of the veterans in this business, the most talented and the young, both women and men.”

A scheme launched six months ago with the aim of helping small businesses get ‘financially fitter’ has so far trained 1,000 firms across Britain.

Intuit, the SME accounting software provider, set up its Financial Fitness initiative in November in support of the Government’s Finance Fitness campaign. Small firms can take part in workshops covering key areas of financial management, such as invoicing and being paid; managing cashflow; handling VAT and other taxes.

The initiative followed research from the Office of National Statistics showing that one in three businesses fail before they reach their third birthday.

Clifton Fearon runs A1 Fitness and Wellbeing alongside business partner Edo Dedovic. The firm, based in North London, offers bespoke fitness packages for clients. The pair were the 1,000th business to benefit from the free training offered by Intuit.

Clifton says: ‘The workshop was very useful, especially the part about systemising your business and having plans in place to make sure you’re running your business productively.’

Sally Revell, UK business manager for Intuit, says: ‘In November we set out to help 1,000 businesses across the Uk and we are thrilled to have achieved this.

‘Through our training programme more firms are now in better shape to survive today’s challenging climate. ‘

 The scheme has been rolled out in cities across Britain, including Liverpool, Sheffield and Manchester. Intuit is also expanding the programme to reach more businesses, and is starting by holding financial training sessions at the Business Startup Show, which is taking place in London on 17 – 18 May.

>> For more on Rebekah Brooks, click here

[Press Association] Rebekah Brooks expressed her bewilderment and launched a defiant attack against police and prosecutors after it was announced that she is to face criminal charges over the phone hacking scandal.

The former News International chief executive said allegations that she, her husband and four others plotted to hide evidence were “an expensive sideshow and a waste of public money”.

She also challenged the integrity of the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to charge her with conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

In a statement made outside her solicitor’s London office, the former Sun and News of the World editor said: “Although I understand the need for a thorough investigation, I am baffled by the decision to charge me. However I cannot express my anger enough that those close to me have unfairly been dragged into this.

“Whilst I have always respected the criminal justice system, I have to question today whether this decision was made on a proper impartial assessment of the evidence.”

The 43-year-old and her racehorse trainer husband Charlie stood side-by-side yesterday after being charged in an hour long meeting with Operation Weeting detectives.

Mr Brooks branded the decision as an attempt to brand him and others as scapegoats and said he believed his wife was the subject of a witch hunt.

“There are 172 police officers, about the equivalent of eight murder squads, working on this; so it doesn’t surprise me that the pressure is on to prosecute, no matter how weak the cases will be,” he said.

“I have no doubt that the lack of evidence against me will be borne out in court but I have grave doubts that my wife can ever get a fair trial, given the huge volume of biased commentary which she has been subjected to.

“We will fight this in court.”

The couple will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 13 alongside her former PA, Cheryl Carter and chauffeur Paul Edwards charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Mark Hanna, head of security at News International and security consultant Daryl Jorsling also face single counts of conspiring with her.

Mrs Brooks, listed on a police indictment as “unemployed” of Churchill, Oxfordshire, was charged with three counts, including that she removed boxes of material from the News International archive and tried to conceal documents, computers and other material from the multimillion-pound Scotland Yard inquiry.

The charges are the first to be brought following Scotland Yard’s multimillion-pound investigations into phone-hacking, computer hacking and corruption, which have led to 50 arrests since they began in January last year.

Alison Levitt QC, principal legal advisor to the Director of Public Prosecutions, said there was “sufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction”.

Charges against one suspect, a 38-year-old security consultant, were dropped as part of the review of evidence by lawyers since detectives handed over the file on March 27.

But Miss Levitt said a prosecution “is required in the public interest in relation to each of the other six”.

Both Ms Carter and Mr Hanna also released statements vigorously denying the allegations.

It is understood that News International has suspended Hanna and Edwards on full pay pending the conclusion of the cases.

The news of the charges came on the same day that detectives investigating corrupt payments to public officials arrested a HM Revenue and Customs employee after being handed information by News Corporation’s management standards committee (MSC).

The 50-year-old man was held on suspicion of misconduct in a public office by officers from Operation Elveden.

He was arrested at an address in north west London along with a 43-year-old woman who was held on suspicion of aiding and abetting misconduct in a public office and money-laundering offences. Both were bailed until August.

The MSC was set up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal that led to the closure of the News of the World last July.

It is carrying out internal investigations relating to Rupert Murdoch’s remaining UK papers – the Sun, The Times and the Sunday Times.

The decision to charge Warrington-born Mrs Brooks came just days after she lifted the lid on her close relationship with the Prime Minister at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.

David Cameron’s official spokesman declined to discuss the matter, saying it would be “improper” for him to comment on an ongoing investigation.

Mrs Brooks became News of the World editor in 2000 aged 31, landed the top job at The Sun in 2003 and was appointed chief executive of News International in 2009 before quitting in July 2011.

Days later she was arrested over alleged phone-hacking and corruption, offences for which she remains on bail without charge.

She was arrested again in March in connection with the separate perverting the course of justice allegation, with her husband and four others.

[Press Association] Thousands of teenagers who are not in school or work are being recruited to teach other youngsters how to handle their finances.

A new financial education campaign aims to give young people accurate information on how to deal with money matters.

The scheme is hoping to sign up 5,000 “champions” who will be given training in financial issues and asked to spread their knowledge to others in their peer group.

It is expected that the pool of “champions” will be drawn from youngsters who are considered NEET – not in education, employment or training.

The project has been set up by a group of charities and Barclays, who said that up to 100,000 young people are expected to benefit from the financial advice.

Fiona Blacke, chief executive of the National Youth Agency, said: “Young people are facing significant challenges and reach out to people they trust for help and advice. It is essential that the information they receive is accurate, to ensure they are appropriately equipped to negotiate financial problems and money management issues.

“The Barclays Money Skills ‘champions’ programme will prepare young people that need it most with skills and knowledge to support themselves and their friends. We are delighted that significant investment is being made into young people’s futures.”

Research previously conducted by Barclays found that just 4% of young people could remember getting financial education at school or college, while 90% relied on parents or friends for advice.

Who Cares? We Care

Who Cares has been launched by the Financial section of the Mail on Sunday to offer advice, help and support to the millions of people in Britain today who are affected by the chronic difficulties of old age, whether they are elderly themselves or helping to care for older relatives and friends.

So many people now find themselves plunged into the confusing world of benefits, entitlements, dementia, care homes and home care. It can be a huge battle for younger relatives and a struggle for anyone since one of the worst aspects of this world is a sense of isolation.

It is hard to know which way to turn.

In a series of articles and blogs, Who Cares will be offering hard facts and straightforward advice to help you find your way through the maelstrom.

We want to create a community that includes you and offers genuine support. This will be a place where you can share your stories and where we will be campaigning to help push all these issues up the agenda..

>>Who Cares wants to hear your questions and concerns, your thoughts and your experiences. You can contact us by posting at the end of any of our articles or blogs, or you can email us direct on whocares@fmwf.com.

For Advice on:

>> Benefits and Entitlements click here

>> Home Care click here

>> Dementia click here

>> Living and residential care click here

>> Important Contacts click here

>> Sarah Whitebloom’s blog click here.