I can't seem to stay away from stories from Britain this week, but this one caught my eye, wrestled it to the floor, and held it in a headlock until it started watering ...

The Health Minister, Caroline Flint, is quoting anecdotal evidence that pregnant British teens are, "smoking to ensure they deliver babies of a low birth weight in the mistaken belief that such births will be less painful."

Sheeeesh! Here's some reaction:

National Childbirth Trust Chief Executive Brenda Phillips told the BBC: "Although smoking does reduce the baby's size, it does have a devastating effect on the baby in lots of other ways.

"We are bringing up our young women very fearful of labor. Labor is a normal process which is hard work, and for many people painful, but, with the right sort of support and the right sort of care, is perfectly doable.

"It is a real indictment of our education that teenagers are so fearful that they are prepared to do something that is enormously damaging to themselves and their babies because they think there might be an outside chance it might make their labor easier. Which is largely a myth."

From the same "HealthWrap", some good news, though: tea is good for you.

Yes, you'd figure this sort of news would come out of England, given the status of tea there, but this study by researchers at University College London appears to prove that drinking four cups a tea per day will reduce your stress levels.

And that's not all:

The tea drinkers also showed reduced platelet activity -- linked with heart attacks and blood clots -- when compared with their non-tea drinking peers, and claimed to feel a "greater degree of relaxation" when the task was completed.

More good news ...

Another university in England is in the process of developing a nasal spray the will protect the user from the flu, and they're expecting it to be available in about five years. That will be handy.

And in the US, if you buy prescriptions in Canada to save money, you'll no longer get your prescriptions impounded at the border.

The Customs and Border Police have announced that they're doing away with the protocol of the past eleven months and will, "turn a blind eye to small imports from Canada."

Think I'll go make myself a cup of tea ...