0:00:01 > 0:00:15Thursday. That's
0:00:15 > 0:00:22Welcome to BBC London News. I'm Alpa Patel.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26A study seen by the BBC
0:00:26 > 0:00:28shows that a powerful drug to treat epilepsy
0:00:28 > 0:00:30could harm families for generations.
0:00:30 > 0:00:36Karen Buck from Stanmore in Northwest London didn't know
0:00:36 > 0:00:38taking sodium valproate during pregnancy would cause severe
0:00:38 > 0:00:40birth defects in her now 19 year old daughter.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Tarah Welsh has been speaking to her.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48You're going to swallow that. Bridget is 19 but still plays with
0:00:48 > 0:00:53some of the toys she had as a baby. She cannot go to the toilet, she
0:00:53 > 0:00:57cannot walk, she cannot talk.When Karen was pregnant with her, she was
0:00:57 > 0:01:02prescribed a high dosage of the drug sodium valproate. She has epilepsy,
0:01:02 > 0:01:06and the pills were meant to control the seizures. But the powerful
0:01:06 > 0:01:12chemicals that protected her health damaged her daughter's. Around
0:01:12 > 0:01:1820,000 children in the UK are believed to have the tool valproate
0:01:18 > 0:01:24syndrome after being exposed to sodium valproate in the womb. They
0:01:24 > 0:01:30have an increased risk of cleft palate and more prone to spina
0:01:30 > 0:01:33bifida, or neural defects. The risks of taking the drug in pregnancy have
0:01:33 > 0:01:37been known since the 70s, the government regulates what
0:01:37 > 0:01:42information is given to patients and it chose not reveal this. In a
0:01:42 > 0:01:43statement it told us
0:01:57 > 0:02:03yet many women say they still are not aware of the risks, particularly
0:02:03 > 0:02:07alarming in light of new findings. While researching the film, we spoke
0:02:07 > 0:02:12with several families who suspect sodium valproate is somehow not just
0:02:12 > 0:02:17harming their children but their grandchildren, too. Until now, those
0:02:17 > 0:02:21suspicions have not been deemed credible but we have obtained the
0:02:21 > 0:02:25results of a major scientific project in South Korea, which
0:02:25 > 0:02:28actually supports the idea that the drug can harm successive
0:02:28 > 0:02:33generations. The study found autistic like behaviour in the
0:02:33 > 0:02:37grandchildren and great-grandchildren of mice that
0:02:37 > 0:02:44were injected with sodium valproate while pregnant.That was the first
0:02:44 > 0:02:48bit of evidence that we had in any species that this could be carried
0:02:48 > 0:02:51onto the next generation.For the family of Bridget, the idea that the
0:02:51 > 0:02:55harm could on for generations is a thought almost too difficult to
0:02:55 > 0:02:59bear.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05And there's more of that story in tonight's Inside Out programme
0:03:05 > 0:03:08programme at 7.30 on BBC1.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10And anyone with concerns about their medication should
0:03:10 > 0:03:13consult their doctor before making any changes
0:03:13 > 0:03:15Around 150 children's centres in London have not been inspected
0:03:15 > 0:03:17by Ofsted for more than five years.
0:03:17 > 0:03:18The Government told inspectors
0:03:18 > 0:03:21to temporarily suspend inspections in 2015.
0:03:21 > 0:03:27One charity says it's left tens of thousands of parents
0:03:27 > 0:03:30with no idea of how good their local centre is.
0:03:30 > 0:03:32Here's our Education Reporter, Marc Ashdown.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36For babies and toddlers, it's a chance to play.
0:03:36 > 0:03:37For parents, a chance to socialise,
0:03:37 > 0:03:39and get free support from health workers.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Two years ago, Alca lost her mother just before giving birth to her son,
0:03:42 > 0:03:43and was heading towards depression.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48If the centres weren't here to help me, and my health visitor as well,
0:03:48 > 0:03:54because there was one consistent person throughout
0:03:54 > 0:03:55to be able to help me,
0:03:55 > 0:03:57erm, I'm not sure how we would have coped.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59And I don't think we would coped very well.
0:04:00 > 0:04:01These centres are a lifeline.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03There are 3,000 or so children's centres across England,
0:04:03 > 0:04:05and like schools, Ofsted inspects them for safety and quality.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08But in 2015, the government decided to consult over their future,
0:04:08 > 0:04:15and told inspectors to stop inspecting.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17The charity Action For Children says two years on,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19some 969 centres due an inspection haven't had one,
0:04:20 > 0:04:21that's 40% of the total.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23In that time, councils have invested £1.4 billion in children's centres,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26but it's not clear how well that money has been spent.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28In London, about 150 centres are affected.
0:04:28 > 0:04:36There are now concerns over their futures.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38What it means, of course,
0:04:38 > 0:04:40is that with local authorities under pressure for cash,
0:04:40 > 0:04:41if those centres aren't inspected,
0:04:41 > 0:04:42they're sort of invisible.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45And what that means is, it's much easier to close them.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47It gives him a chance to interact with others,
0:04:47 > 0:04:48myself a chance to interact with others,
0:04:48 > 0:04:55and get him weighed and see how he's doing.
0:04:55 > 0:05:03I had postnatal depression with both my children.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06So it gives me some oomph to get out of the house,
0:05:06 > 0:05:07and also get her to have some company.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09We come in every Monday.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11So, if this went, I'd have nowhere to go.
0:05:11 > 0:05:12Ofsted confirmed the inspections are still suspended,
0:05:12 > 0:05:15but the Department for Education said robust and regular partial
0:05:15 > 0:05:20inspections do still take place.
0:05:24 > 0:05:34The influential Board of Deputies of British Jews
0:05:35 > 0:05:38Is to write to senior legal figures, calling on them to sack the Senior
0:05:38 > 0:05:49Coroner for Inner North London.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55It's after concerns within the Jewish and Muslim
0:05:55 > 0:05:58communities about the way she failed to respect the wishes of families
0:05:58 > 0:06:06who wanted to bury relatives as soon as possible.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08Now just 18 months ago British Ice Dancing Champion Penny Coomes
0:06:08 > 0:06:11shattered her knee in eight places during a training exercise.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13The athlete from Maidenhead was told she might never compete again.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16But now Penny is preparing to compete at the Winter Olympics
0:06:16 > 0:06:17in South Korea next month.
0:06:17 > 0:06:18Sara Orchard has more
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Life in Michigan for the number one ice dancing couple of Team GB. They
0:06:21 > 0:06:24moved to the States to live just three minutes from the rink where
0:06:24 > 0:06:27they train.It was a big move and a big change moving here because all
0:06:27 > 0:06:29of a sudden, we are around other couples that we compete against,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32training with competitors, if anything, we make each other better
0:06:32 > 0:06:36and stronger.They have flown the flag for Team GB for the last two
0:06:36 > 0:06:41Winter Olympics and risen up the world rankings but in June, 2016, a
0:06:41 > 0:06:45third Olympic Games looked like it would not happen.I obliterated my
0:06:45 > 0:06:52kneecap. No other way to put it. I messed it up good and proper. I had
0:06:52 > 0:06:58a fall in practice, fluke accident, like that, I am on the floor, with
0:06:58 > 0:07:02half my kneecap up here and the other half down there.Any had
0:07:02 > 0:07:05shattered her knee in eight places and was told she may not skate
0:07:05 > 0:07:11again. After surgery and expensive rehab, she return to competitive
0:07:11 > 0:07:16action in August and they have qualified to Pyeongchang.We have
0:07:16 > 0:07:20come through so much but the best bit is yet to come.It is just so
0:07:20 > 0:07:25emotional because... This has always been my goal commune, when we set
0:07:25 > 0:07:31out it was always, let's do three Olympic Games and Pyeongchang was
0:07:31 > 0:07:37always, let's be the best air. Being an Olympian is what I am most proud
0:07:37 > 0:07:41of, and the moments I look back in my life and look back and love the
0:07:41 > 0:07:47most. I just want to take it all in. -- lets be the best we can be.I
0:07:47 > 0:07:52want to pat myself on the back and be, yet, I have earned this.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59Now the weather with Kate Kinsella.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02After a pretty cold weekend, things have changed overnight, with the
0:08:02 > 0:08:07temperature rising, it is feeling a lot milder today, we have seen some
0:08:07 > 0:08:15sunshine, a little bit of cloud here and there, also a few notes of
0:08:15 > 0:08:21spring rising. Saying mild, further bright spells, mild air brings with
0:08:21 > 0:08:27it a bit of moisture, should stay dry, quite a bit of cloud, breaking
0:08:27 > 0:08:29up, thinning, getting sunny spells throughout, and bright spells as
0:08:29 > 0:08:35well, temperatures reaching nine, even 10 degrees. In double figures.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40Overnight tonight, might be chilly to start with but gradually, things
0:08:40 > 0:08:45will start to warm up, or at least get a little milder. Cloud moving in
0:08:45 > 0:08:48from the West and the wind strengthening by dawn, rain arrives,
0:08:48 > 0:08:53minimum temperature is not dropping to four, six and seven Celsius.
0:08:53 > 0:08:57Another mild start tomorrow, quite a wet one, wind strengthening the
0:08:57 > 0:09:01whole time. Rain in the afternoon breaking up, one or two showers,
0:09:01 > 0:09:08also brighter spells. Yes, it will be breezy, despite that, look at the
0:09:08 > 0:09:11temperature, 13 Celsius, billing mild as we had through Tuesday
0:09:11 > 0:09:15afternoon. The wind will strengthen, as we head into Wednesday, wet and
0:09:15 > 0:09:20windy. Something a bit fresher and a bit brighter for Thursday.The
0:09:20 > 0:09:23weather is not bad at all!
0:09:26 > 0:09:27That's about it from me.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Riz Lateef will be here with our 6:30 evening programme.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32But for now, from us all, a very good afternoon.