Paper Jets

Rogue online reviewers are holding restaurants to ransom with their scathing remarks. Websites such as MenuMania, Dineout and menus.co.nz give picky and negative diners space to vent their views with little accountability, restaurant owners say. And the remarks can't be removed. Eight Point Two is regarded as one of Auckland's top places to eat out. But owner Lindsay Swannack cringes each time a review email pings into his inbox. "You tend to look at the bad ones more than the good ones. It's human nature,' Swannack said. He is frustrated by the lack of transparency of one-off reviewers and those who are near impossible to please. "You can't defend yourself. We take these very personally - well I do. It really does hurt." Swannack said he would rather see reviewers visit a restaurant several times in order to give a fair assessment, than arrive on a busy Saturday night and complain. Although a restaurant may have received plenty of good...

Strong drugs are the most effective form of pain relief in childbirth, according to international research. But some argue the female body is capable of providing the best relief on its own. Michelle Robinson  speaks to some new mothers and finds that what works for some, doesn't work for everyone. NOT FOR EVERYONE: Melanie Phillipson of Wanaka, wished she hadn't had an epidural. Water births, hypnosis and even muffin baking are just some of the ways Kiwi women cope with the pain of childbirth but nothing is more effective than an epidural, a new international study confirms. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found epidurals, the spinal anaesthesia injection used in 30 per cent of deliveries in New Zealand, to be the most potent form of relief, with water immersion, acupuncture, massage, local anaesthetics and non-opioid drugs also considered effective. However, the review found the same couldn't be said for more obscure therapies such as hypnosis, ar...