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Once again my hunt of the best mascara continues, and this time we’re taking a trip to Sephora to try their much-loved Size Up Supersized Volume Mascara. But does it live up to the hype?

Spoiler: it absolutely does.

Perfect for those after a three-in-one volumising, curling and lengthening formula that doesn’t break the bank, the Sephora Collection Size Up Supersized Volume Mascara is everything I’ve been searching for in a mascara – and costs under £15.

There’s no denying that finding the perfect mascara can be hard. From clumpy results to flakes and smudges, a really good formula is hard to come by

That’s why I was so pleasantly surprised to get my lashes on this one from Sephora Collection.

Sephora Collection Size Up Supersized Volume Mascara – Ultra Black

Designed with its namesake in mind, the Size Up Supersized Volume Mascara delivers 180% volume in 20 swipes, making it the perfect choice for bigger, bolder looks.

shop £14.99

Designed with its namesake in mind, the Size Up Supersized Volume Mascara delivers 180% volume in 20 swipes, making it the perfect choice for bigger, bolder looks.

An affordable option with an expensive feel, the £14.99 mascara has an hourglass-shaped wand with short fibres in the centre to load lashes and give them intense black volume, as well as long fibres at the ends for a separated, fanned-out look.

In just a few swipes you’re left with an impressive eye-opening effect even on shorter lashes, with length, gorgeous curl and impact that lasts all day.

In fact, in a clinical study on 20 people after 21 days of use, 100% found their lashes had more curl while 95% found the mascara gave their lashes extreme volume and longer length.

My thoughts

When I first tried this mascara the word ‘volume’ scared me – I’d like to think my days of spidery lashes were behind me. Thankfully however, the volume came without a thick and unsightly look – even after multiple coats.

This mascara delivers a blacker-than-black wash of pigment that immediately coats every lash and instantly gives them life – without the unpleasant thickness.

There’s very little I hate in the makeup world more than a too-wet mascara, but this formula is the perfect consistency, making it easy and effective to apply from the very first use.

The hourglass wand is a godsend, too, coating my lashes in just a matter of swipes and leaving me with a dramatic, fluttery look with very minimal transfer on my eyelids and bottom lashes.

Within just a few swipes I’m left with visibly longer and defined eyelashes, not to mention an incredible added ‘oomph’ of volume that leaves them reaching for my eyebrows and remaining gorgeously curled all day.

Because that’s another thing about this mascara – it really lasts. Holding up the entire day without a trace of smudging or flaking, I can rely on this Sephora mascara to keep my lashes looking amazing from morning application to evening removal.

And for just £14.99? It’s hard to find fault in truth.

Beauty buffs love the Sephora Collection mascara, too, with hundreds rating it a five-star buy and finding favourites among all of the five bold and wearable shades.

‘I own every colour of this mascara and I absolutely love it!’ Wrote one impressed reviewer. ‘Makes my lashes so volumised and not clumpy at all, I recommend any of the shades because the brush is amazing.’

Another raved: ‘Genuinely surprised with how good this mascara is. Value for money and really easy to apply. Lifts the lashes really well.’

‘I could not recommend this more. I like this better than the Too Faced better than sex mascara. I am actually so shocked it didn’t smudge because every mascara I have used before has smudged no matter the price.’ Wrote a third.

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Ray Catania was 20 when he died in a gas leak that filled his room and set fire to his parents’ home as he slept.

‘All night long, the gas was rising into my bedroom, and I was breathing it in,’ Ray, now 57, tells Metro over Zoom from his home in New York.

 ‘There was a big ball of flames, and the wall caught fire. My father put it out with a fire extinguisher,’ he remembers.

Roused by the noise of police radios and fire trucks, Ray tried to get out of bed and failed. ‘I couldn’t move my legs at all. They were completely paralysed. I couldn’t get my head off the pillow; I couldn’t yell or speak.’

He managed to pull himself with one arm and fell to the floor, smashing his head on the boards. Strangely, Ray felt no pain.

‘I didn’t feel anything because I wasn’t in that body anymore,’ he says matter-of-factly. ‘I was above it, in the corner of my room looking down. I could see my lifeless body.

‘The room was a perfect square,’ adds Ray. ‘The colours were vivid and bright, everything was more vibrant, like going from old television to high definition. I could tell you the exact sweatsuit I was wearing.

‘And I was soaking wet, because the first thing you do when you die is pee yourself.’

Opposite him, in another corner, was The Light, he says.

 ‘It was a huge cone shaped white light, but not a light. It was everything. It was love, painlessness, peace, joy, enlightenment. It was not separate from me. I was part of it.’

An unknown being called him into the cone and Ray felt a sense of euphoria. ‘Nothing has ever felt as good as that moment, he recalls. ‘I don’t think anything ever will again until I go back to the light.’

However, as Ray approached it, he saw his father storm into the room and lift his body from the floor. ‘He was screaming for the paramedics. Distraught, in tears.’

The next thing Ray knew he was back in the house, downstairs in the living room where paramedics were resuscitating him.

‘I woke up and they were on top of me with all their tools and gadgets. But still I felt no pain.’

‘There’s definitely an afterlife’

Ray made a full recovery, but later learnt he had died again several times on the way to hospital. When he told family and friends about his out-of-body experience, they dismissed him as “crazy”.

For years, he believed them, even though the fire had not been his first brush with death – or the afterlife.

When he was 10, Ray was caught in an undertow while swimming at Wildwood beach in New Jersey. ‘I started to panic, when a being said, “calm down, swim sideways, take all the time you need”. So I did, and I later discovered it is how you get out of an undertow.’

Years later, working in a New York bar, Ray escaped a shooting after a ‘mystical being’ showed him the way out of danger.

There were also other visions and experiences, which for years Ray believed to be proof of his own unravelling. It wasn’t until he met a medium in his forties, who explained how psychics see life and death, that Ray began to investigate further. He trained as a metaphysical counsellor – a practice that uses spiritual principles and intuitive practices to help people solve their problems – and has written a book about what he’s seen

‘There’s definitely an afterlife,’ he insists. ‘At the end of the day, we’re all one, we’re all part of this light.’

Ray is just one of the people who has taken part in the Afterlife Experiences Survey, which looks into near-death experiences.

Carried out by Brandon Massullo of Wooster Community Hospital and James Houran of Integrated Knowledge Systems, the pair have spoken to many ‘sincere people with good memories’ to get their stories.

‘This is a study that aims to reach people all around the world who have had unusual experiences that they think could be evidence of an afterlife,’ James explains. ‘We are testing some secret hypotheses, but we think the various experiences show meta-patterns that no one has yet explored or perhaps even suspected.’

‘I could see somebody trying to pump my chest’

Stella Ralfini also died when she was young. Now 78, the Londoner tells Metro her heart stopped beating for four minutes following a car accident when she was 16.

Stella had a sense of foreboding as she got into the car with her older boyfriend Mick after a party in Kent. Everyone had been drinking, it was a rainy winter night, and they had a long journey back to London. When the car hit a bollard, the door smashed open and the weight of the passenger next to Stella forced her out onto the motorway.

‘I didn’t go down a tunnel. What I did see was my life flash before me, and it was very, very fast, with lots of lovely memories of me at different ages with my parents and other people. Then I was aware I was watching from above.

‘I looked down and saw my leg at a bad angle. Blood was pooling on the road in the rain and I could see somebody on top of me trying to pump my chest, while someone else was crying. All I remember was saying, “I’m too young to die. I want to get back into my body”,’ the natural beauty expert explains.

Moments later, as she lay on the road, Stella’s eyes opened. ‘I just got back into my body. It’s the most bizarre thing that’s ever happened to me.’

The ambulance arrived and she drifted in and out of consciousness on the way to Maidstone hospital. Mick was stunned. ‘All he kept saying afterwards was, “You were dead.”’

The experience shaped the rest of Stella’s life and, convinced that her soul had left her body, she became a Buddhist, trained as a Reiki master in Japan and learned from monks in China. She also volunteered in hospitals, supporting those at the end of their lives.

‘I sat with people who were dying of cancer and I could see, as they closed their eyes, a little stream of light that seemed to come from the forehead or the crown and leave their body.’

Stella, author of natural health and beauty book Sensual Sorcery, now has no fear of death, rather she has been left ‘in awe’ of the universe.

 ‘I am convinced we don’t die when the body dies,’ she says. ‘Because if my body was dead on the highway, who was the one looking down?’

‘I experienced limbo’

Abigail Barnes also experienced a spiritual awakening following a massive and unexpected stroke 13 years ago. Now 45, Abigail lives in London.

But back then, she was travelling internationally in her role as a senior marketing manager, and her arrival in Boston had been ordinary, with dinner and a few drinks. The next morning she woke with what she thought was a hangover.

‘I had a headache and black and white lights were flashing in front of my eyes. Then I felt violently sick and became paralysed,’ remembers Abigail, who runs her own company, Success by Design Training.

It was then that she experienced a gateway to somewhere else. ‘It looked like a big oak door,’ she explains. ‘But it didn’t feel grand, more like a side door. And the feeling I got was, “Why are you here?”’

Abigail drifted in and out of two realms she now believes to have been the normal world and ‘limbo’.

‘I was on the bed in my friend’s house, but simultaneously in a white room. I could hear a committee of voices talking like they were arguing a legal case,’ she remembers.

‘Some were saying, “She’s had 32 years, she’s not done it yet”. Others were saying, “Give her another chance”. I felt like some of them were angels, some were ancestors. I just kept begging them to please give me another chance.’

Physically, Abigail was waiting in a corridor at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital. When she heard the committee say “send her back” she was suddenly woken by a doctor who told her she’d had a massive stroke and was in intensive care

A day or two later, Abigail had another strange experience.

‘I heard a shuffling at the end of the bed. I opened my eyes and saw this being with giant wings, like an Archangel’s wings. It was very traditional, like all the pictures. It was almost as if it had waited for me to wake up so I could see it was there, to know I was okay. Once it saw that I’d seen it, it vanished.’

She later learned this happened at the exact point her Catholic mother had been on the plane from London praying for angels to support her.

Of course; science provides several explanations for this type of experience. Oxygen deprivation can cause tunnel vision, bright lights and euphoria, while carbon dioxide build-up can trigger hallucinations and a sense of leaving the body.

Activity in the brain’s temporal lobes can also produce religious sensations, and a surge of neurotransmitters may explain calm and euphoria.

But Ray, Stella and Abigail aren’t trying to prove life after death to anyone. They are happy to know that what they experienced profoundly changed their lives and all three have found more peace, intuition and compassion as a result.

As Ray says: ‘At the end of the day, we’re all one, we’re all part of this light. I never try to change anyone’s belief system, but if you are feeling like there’s more to this world, or things are happening to you and you wish to understand more, I’m very open to that.’

Relaxing into a breaststroke in the slow lane at my local pool, I noticed the swimmer behind me was getting impatient. For a minute, I thought I’d mistakenly plonked myself in a faster lane by accident, but no.

Flashing up and down at lightning speeds, he was now passive-aggressively tailgating me – with minimal distance, might I add – as though he was trying to win gold at the Olympics, a feat my casual pace was hampering.

In my mind, he shouldn’t have been in the slow lane in the first place. Worse still, he wasn’t going to put me out of my misery with a simple, inoffensive overtake.

It’s not an isolated incident either; in the past, I’ve even seen pensioners tagged by people who simply can’t exercise a modicum of patience.

Sometimes, these Lido McQueens use a ‘foot tap’ to signal they want to get past. But even though the practice can seem polite and prove effective, it doesn’t always go down well.

According to Speedo’s seven commandments of lane swimming, it’s a ‘universal gesture among club swimmers – if you want to overtake, gently touch the toes of the swimmer in front.’ They should then pause at the end of the lane to let you pass.

One of the main problems is that not everyone is aware of this piece of pool etiquette.

As Andrew Clark, manager of the London Aquatics Centre, writes on the Speedo website, it’s an ‘international custom, except in the UK where only club swimmers seem to know about it and people get sensitive about being touched.’

Although I’m not a club swimmer, I’m not a beginner either, and I understand why it could prove controversial.

Looking back on my awkward encounter this week, I see how a foot tap might have saved me from feeling like I was being hounded by the swimmer who was hot on my heels. That said, I simply don’t want a stranger to be touching my feet in public. What about the hygiene? The intimacy? At least buy me a drink first.

And it seems I’m not alone: many others have experienced a similar level of unease about this, let’s face it, very middle-class issue.

Writing in the r/Swimming Subreddit, @Aggravating-Dust7430 previously said that they feel ‘panic’ when someone touches their feet while they’re trying to enjoy a few simple lengths.

‘I always try not to slow people down, so if they are very close and faster than me, near the end of the lane I’d let them pass,’ they explained. ‘But on occasion, someone just touches my feet in the middle of the lane. That’s when I put in 200% more effort and get 7% faster.’

Meanwhile, @thepatiosong said they’d be ‘extremely annoyed’ if someone tapped them on the foot, arguing that they’re ‘sufficiently lane-aware’ to know if they’re likely to be overtaken during the next length and can simply wait for the ‘speedster’ to pass them at the next wall anyway.

‘Anything to avoid unnecessary interaction,’ they joked, while another user added that where they live in Switzerland, foot tapping isn’t a thing – and they find the whole concept absolutely ‘bizarre.’

On the contrary, there were some ardent toe-tappers who held firm that it’s just the polite thing to do and – despite the fact many on the receiving end have said it makes them uncomfortable – they have no qualms about getting up close and personal with a stranger’s tootsies.

‘If you are the faster swimmer and want to pass someone, you should tap their feet once and then pass them,’ @bebopped said, while @Deacon_Mushrat1 noted that this is ‘actually a very standard lap swimming convention.’

Here at Metro, it’s equally divisive, inspiring horrified comments like from ‘touching toes feels way too intimate’ and ‘I’m never going swimming again now that I know this is a possibility’ to ‘If someone did it to me I would kick them.’

‘I feel like that’s something swimming lanes should ask swimmers to consent to,’ added another staffer, but one highlighted how it can help ‘avoids too many clashes’ as ‘people can get quite rough shoving each other out of the way’.

Whatever your thoughts on it though, it’s good to be aware foot taps are a thing. That way, when you feel something brush your toes while you’re perfecting your front crawl at the leisure centre (and have confirmed it’s not a rogue plaster floating by), you know what to do.

Do you have a story to share?

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.

The urologist looked me in the eye and uttered: ‘We’ve found something on your kidney that’s going to need treatment.’

My brain scrambled.

‘Is it cancer?’ I asked, already breaking down. I needed my wife, Ellen because I knew I couldn’t handle this alone.

So they ushered me into a separate room with the kidney specialist nurse, who sat with me, made me a cup of tea,  and walked with me around the hospital while I waited for my wife. I just felt numb.

When she finally walked in half an hour later, I started crying. Then we had to go back into the room for the rest of the news.  

They explained that I had a 6cm tumour on my right kidney. I didn’t yet know the tumour was cancerous – but that was the moment my life changed forever.   

My first symptom came in 2021; lower back pain that I blamed on badminton. I didn’t think of this as anything other than my age creeping up on me – after all, I was 44.

I suppose there were times where I was urinating more in the night and the odd time my urine was cloudy, but I didn’t realise this could have had any serious consequences. I wasn’t really concerned about these symptoms because I was generally quite healthy otherwise.

But then things escalated in October 2024. I went to the loo before bed and the entire stream of my urine was red with blood.

I wasn’t actually that worried because I just dismissed it as kidney stones, even though I’d never had anything like it before.

Ellen was already asleep so I decided I’d tell her in the morning. Sure enough, she was very pragmatic – her advice was to call the doctor and get an appointment.

At the GP, I gave a urine sample that resembled the colour of Ribena and I was sent straight to A&E for further investigation. That’s when I properly started to worry.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of scans, waiting and more tests, and on a cold November morning, I got the news about the 6cm tumour on my kidney.

The days following that news was a whirlwind. At my lowest, I found myself planning Ellen’s life without me.

I needed another scan to check if the cancer had spread elsewhere, so waiting for the results of that was the single most anxious moment of my entire life. They call it ‘scanxiety’. 

Thankfully it hadn’t and I was given two options: a partial nephrectomy – which is a surgical procedure to remove a portion of the kidney while preserving the remaining healthy kidney tissue to try and save some organ function – or a full removal.  

For me, it was a no-brainer. They might not get all of it if it was the former so I decided to have the kidney removed.  

From that point, things happened fast. In early December – only eight days after I’d been told about the tumour – my kidney was removed.

As I went into the operation, I thought I wouldn’t make it off the table. I just tried to picture the simple joy of sitting on the sofa with Ellen and the kids, nine and 11.

We hadn’t told our children anything about it. What they knew at the time was that I was experiencing bleeding and that I needed an operation because my kidney was poorly.

Once the tumour was out, then came the wait to see if it was cancerous. This was a scary time.

It was during my post-op review in January that I sat down in front of the doctor and he said: ‘It’s really great news, the cancer was all contained to the kidney – and it’s all been removed’.

The relief I felt in that moment is difficult to explain. I was quite numb to it at first and it took some time to feel anything but anxiety.

Thankfully, there was no immunotherapy needed, just regular monitoring – CT scans and blood tests for the next five years. That’s it.    

I was relieved that I didn’t need any further treatment, but once someone tells you that you have cancer, you never really feel the same again.  

Even after hearing I was cancer-free, I couldn’t shake the fear. For weeks – maybe months – I thought I was going to die.

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But I went through counselling sessions offered through the national charity Kidney Cancer UK – six weekly sessions and another six on an adhoc basis – and they helped me unpack the weight I was carrying.

As for my remaining kidney, it’s doing its best, though I’m being monitored closely because my function has dipped slightly. It could just be the kidney adapting.  

We’ll see, but I’m here. Living. 

I feel lucky – not everyone gets that kind of speed or support. My medical team was incredible.

My wife, Ellen, even more so. And of course, the kidney specialist nurse who made time stand still on one of the worst mornings of my life – I’ll never forget her.   

If there’s one thing I want people to know: don’t ignore symptoms. Life gets busy but trust your gut. Push for tests. You deserve answers.   

Cancer doesn’t always mean the end. Sometimes it’s the beginning of fighting for yourself in a whole new way.   

So don’t be afraid to ask for support. 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

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Marks and Spencer has dropped its new autumn/winter fashion staples, and we are already obsessed with absolutely everything, though it’s not really surprising considering the quality and the price. 

We never realised we needed as many coats until we eyeballed M&S’ outerwear collection. Suffice to say, we’re adding every style to our wardrobe, from leather jackets, to trench coats, checked barn-style iterations that are short in length, Barbour-inspired designs, and a new Borg-style coat. 

Yes, you read that right. The borg coat is back, and we couldn’t be happier.  Though if you want to find the exact one we’re referring to online it’s M&S’ Faux Fur Buckle Trim Coat. 

Faux Fur Buckle Trim Coat

Crafted from polyester, which offers a faux fur textured exterior that is ultra soft and insulating. The coat features piping along the hem for a polished finish, as well as gold-tone buckle front fastening. The short jacket falls to the hips and boasts a relaxed boxy fit. Available in sizes extra small to extra large

BUY NOW FOR £75

Every autumn the Borg coat makes an appearance. It’s chic, insulating, but perfect for day and evening wear, hence why it’s so popular. 

The Faux Fur Buckle Trim Coat has been crafted from polyester fabric, but it achieves a textured faux fur exterior, which looks far more premium. What also helps to make this Faux Fur Buckle Trim Coat look even more luxurious is the piping on the hem to prevent any frays. 

The coat has been cut to a regular fit, so it offers a boxy finish that is easy to wear over a lightweight T-shirt, shirt, or jumper. 

It features a round neck, which, combined with the collarless design means it is ideal to wear in the autumn with a roll neck poking out. 

This design also features gold-tone buckle front fastening, which is a standout feature we adore. 

Pair with a lightweight jumper, barrel leg jeans, loafers and socks, or team with leather trousers, a roll neck and heeled boots for office to post-work drinks on a chilly autumn day. 

The jacket is available in sizes extra small to extra large, and for £75, we think this is an absolute steal. 

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I woke up to a bone-deep, unnatural ache pulling through my body. Sweat clung to me, yet I was shivering uncontrollably.  

This didn’t feel like the rhythmic ache of contractions. My body was failing me as I lay on my hospital bed, frozen, silently begging for help. 

Then I was told I needed an emergency C-section – I couldn’t believe it. I’d asked for one weeks earlier, but was told I was ‘too young’. 

Because of that, I was left fighting for my life. 

In 2024, when I first found out I was pregnant, I was hopeful. I was 24 and although my partner and I didn’t live together, we felt ready. We ensured everything would be in place, and he was my rock throughout. 

For the most part, my pregnancy was smooth sailing. No complications, and I spent my days happily planning for the new chapter ahead. Halfway through I started to struggle with some pelvic girdle pain, so began to seek more support at my midwife appointments. 

But as the pregnancy progressed, my confidence eroded. Midwife shortages made appointments rushed and transactional. 

I thought maybe I was just unlucky, but now I realise it’s common. In the UK, an NHS patient survey showed that only 24% of women saw the same midwife consistently throughout their pregnancy in 2024, despite strong evidence that continuity improves outcomes. 

It was during a routine scan, 17 weeks before I delivered, when I was told my baby was too large for a natural birth. Calmly, I requested a C-section.  

‘You’re too young,’ the obstetrician replied. They told me an induction – where labour is started artificially with medication or other interventions –  would be much safer and risk-free for someone my age. 

I felt panicked, explaining I would feel more comfortable with a caesarean. However, they were adamant it would be the wrong choice, and instead booked me in for a growth scan at 32 weeks to see if I would still need an induction.

At that scan, I was officially booked in. Denied an elective C-section once more, I focused on the induction. So, at 37 weeks, five weeks after the scan, we arrived at the hospital with optimism.  

I was given Propess, a vaginal hormone insert, then labour began. The epidural went in, followed by Pitocin, a drip to strengthen contractions. Things were progressing, until they weren’t. 

My epidural was not working, and the feeling was unbearable.

But the midwife who said she’d get my failed epidural fixed suddenly finished her shift and her replacement told me I didn’t need more pain relief, brushing aside my growing fever.  

On the second day in the hospital, I knew something was wrong. I was still achy and in a haze but no one seemed concerned.  

Turns out, I had an infection, and the midwives didn’t tell me. I later found out it was documented, so they were aware, but by time anyone acted, it had become maternal sepsis – a life-threatening condition that is caused by an infection during pregnancy. 

Hours passed and I was told I needed an emergency C-section. It came too late to avoid trauma, but just in time to save us both. 

My son was born 30 minutes later.  

The midwives held him above the curtain, but not high enough for me to see him. A moment I’d waited nine months for was stolen in a second. 

On the postnatal ward, care was almost non-existent. I was still in a significant amount of discomfort but I didn’t receive proper pain relief for days. 

Both my partner and I complained, because they wouldn’t explain why I couldn’t have it. When they eventually did help, I had three cannulas – two in my hands, one in my wrist, which were feeding me antibiotics, anti-sickness and pain relief.  

While tending to me, a midwife laughed that I was a human pin cushion. Others gossiped about ‘difficult’ families in the hallways. I knew they were talking about me. 

For 48 hours, I sat in blood-soaked sheets, despite asking for fresh ones. 

Luckily, my partner never left my side.  

For a week, he slept on the floor next to my bed, caring for our newborn when I couldn’t. When my milk didn’t come in, the midwives turned their nose up at helping him learn to make formula. He had to teach himself, ordering the supplies on Uber Eats to the hospital. 

I felt deflated when discharged 10 days after giving birth.  

For days, I curled up crying in pain, unable to be fully present with my son. The guilt was overwhelming, but I couldn’t do anything – everything hurt. 

Five weeks later, I began suffering from visual and auditory hallucinations, body chills and weakness. I learned that the infection hadn’t properly cleared. Despite 40% of survivors reporting lasting effects after sepsis, I wasn’t even given an information sheet when discharged.  

I was exhausted – too tired to take legal action. I was repeatedly told it’s ‘just how it goes’, but it never should be. 

I complained using a maternity survey they’d told me about in the hospital, but it took two months for an apology. They simply stated that they were sorry some parts of my care were not positive, and offered me a phone call – which was just a rehash of my experience, with another apology. 

Emergency C-sections are linked to high rates of postnatal PTSD, yet prevention is poor, with cases rising each year. The CQC maternity survey shows women aged 16 to 26 are amongst those who report the worst care, often dismissed and excluded from decisions. 

As a young mum, you’re told your age is an advantage because younger bodies tend to recover quickly and pregnancies are perceived as lower-risk. But my age didn’t protect me.  

I believe that if they allowed me to elect for a C-Section from the start, my trauma would have been preventable, not inevitable. 

However, three months on, I feel blessed to have an unshakeable bond with my son – thanks to my partner, who held us together when I couldn’t.  

Birth trauma doesn’t end in the delivery room. Maternity care must centre a woman’s voice from the start, as it shapes how we enter motherhood. Some of us never get to come back from that.

In the UK, you have the right to make informed decisions about your birth. I urge you to learn your choices, ask questions, and keep records.  

You’re not just a patient, you’re a parent, a human. You deserve care that reflects that. 

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

Share your views in the comments below.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to let summer go just yet.

Nope, I’m clinging to sunny season like I’m Jack in Titanic, grappling onto the floating door before meeting an untimely end in the freezing ocean. Sorry for the spoiler, if you haven’t seen the film yet.

While gloomy evenings might be starting to creep in at 5pm and people are pulling knitwear to the front of their wardrobes, autumn doesn’t officially start until September 22 – so there’s still time to enjoy the last dregs of summer.

My trick to holding onto it is to stubbornly fill my glass with all the good wine I was slurping over summer, to recreate my time on holiday.

It requires full commitment in the form of sitting in your garden and sipping wine, even in a howling gale.

Rest assured though, whether you went to Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, France or the USA, I’ve got the wines to keep summer alive and kicking in your glass.

When it comes to Spain and Greece, coastal whites will send you straight back to that beach, to breathe in the salty sea spray, shake sand out of your swimmers and idly reach for Factor 30 again. Or why don’t you opt for bone dry bubbles in the form of Cava, Spain’s answer to Champagne, which will transport you back to Las Ramblas in Barcelona where you belong?

Alternatively, hop on over to Portugal or Italy via their super approachable, juicy reds. These work famously well alongside barbecued foodstuffs, if you can gather the courage to light up the coals one last time before packing it all away until next year.

And don’t forget rosé…never forget rosé.

We were all glugging bottles of it by the bucketload over summer, and I’m convinced that sipping pink into autumn, and beyond, will keep the sun shining for longer. Who’s with me?

Whether you are or not, here are my recommendations for drinks that feel like a holiday in a bottle, to keep our memories of sun-kissed terraces, sandy beaches and late-night skinny-dips alive, one sip at a time…

A taste of Spain

Baron Amarillo Cava Brut, £5.75, Aldi

My spidey senses were triggered, big time, when I recently tasted this sparkling. How can something this good sell for a fiver? That’s a rhetorical question, by the way, as I almost don’t want to hear the answer. What I do know is that it’s made in the same way as Champagne, but with indigenous Spanish grapes. The effect is a bracingly dry fizz with white peach and star anise flavours, that pair beautifully with the delicate flavours of sushi or sashimi.

A taste of Italy

Romandiola Rimini DOC Bianco, £8.50, Majestic

With a glass of this in hand, you’ve effectively jetted over to a sun-soaked terrace by the Adriatic Sea somewhere. Beats the Tube strikes any day. This is a blend of Chardonnay, Bombino Blanco (which sounds made up) and Trebbiano, with the vineyards benefiting from the cooling coastal influence. It’s rich and opulent with unctuous layers of sun-ripened yellow plum flavours.  

Pierre Jaurant Le Petite Poulet Rosé, £6.29, Aldi

This Aldi’s fairly obvious take on the popular chicken wine, complete with drawings of hens on the label, in case you didn’t get it from the name. Delicious wine inside the bottle, too, with bone dry flavours of wild strawberries and pillowy-textured, sour raspberries. One to chill down and glug like no one’s watching.  

A taste of Portugal

Alicante Bouschet, £8.95, Co-op

This is the perfect ‘bridge’ wine between seasons, and it also makes a knockout pairing with barbecued burgers. There’s certainly blueberry and dark chocolate power there, but also some hedgerow fruit delicacy too. In fact, Alicante Bouschet is one of only a handful of ‘teinturier grapes’, which have red flesh and red skin for added texture and pigment. Someone fire up the BBQ, pronto!

A taste of the USA

Exceptional Lodi Zinfandel, £6.98, Asda

To put this wine into perspective, wines from the Lodi region of California usually retail for around the £10 to £20 price range. That’s because the area boasts some of California’s most ancient vines, meaning they are packed to bursting with flavour. Case in point here, where you are getting punnet-loads of baked blueberries, prunes, cola bottles and sweet tobacco flavours, and all for under £7. Remarkable.

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Welcome Baby Box

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Buy Now for £35 (WORTH £107)

The box has just launched and contains £107 worth of baby essentials but is priced at just £35 – an unmissable bargain for new parents or those looking for a thoughtful new baby gift for their nearest and dearest.

Inside the gender-neutral box, you’ll find 19 carefully curated products, including 15 full-size items from trusted brands like Aveeno, Child’s Farm, Matchstick, and Johnson’s. 

Want to treat someone you love who’s just welcomed a new addition or need to stock up on your own baby essentials? You can shop the new Welcome Baby Box exclusively online at boots.com. 

Plus, Boots are offering Parenting Club members an extra bonus. They can earn 8 points per £1 spent on their baby shop, alongside exclusive discounts, free gifts, and in-store events to help make parenting just that little bit easier.

Bravo, Boots!

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