July 18, 2024
(Newsweek) – China’s fertility rate, or births expected per woman during her lifetime, amid the rising cost of living in major cities and shifting cultural attitudes toward having children, is 1.0. This puts the country in the company of neighboring … Read More
July 16, 2024
(Associated Press) – Lawmakers in the West African nation of Gambia on Monday rejected a bill that would have overturned a ban on female genital cutting. The attempt to become the first country in the world to reverse such a … Read More
July 16, 2024
(KFF Health News) – Until this spring, Michigan was the only state that had a broad criminal ban on surrogacy. Many families say that ban left them in legal limbo: They were compelled to leave the state to have children; … Read More
July 11, 2024
(NPR) – Researchers have found toxic metals — including arsenic and lead — in over a dozen popular brands of tampons, raising questions about a menstrual hygiene product used by millions of Americans. Their study, published last week in the … Read More
July 11, 2024
(The Atlantic) – For just $65, the skin-care company Selfmade will sell you a kit that will purportedly help you feel more stable and confident in your relationships—and get better skin all the while. According to the kit’s marketing copy, … Read More
June 24, 2024
(Axios) – America has become much more aware of the health risks facing new mothers, but the health care system is still trying to catch up. Why it matters: More than half of pregnancy-related deaths in the United States occur up to one … Read More
June 18, 2024
(The Atlantic) – The Cesarean delivery can save lives in labor emergencies, and it’s overwhelmingly safe—but in the United States, nearly one in every three births now results in a C-section, including for low-risk patients who don’t need them. For many of … Read More
June 18, 2024
(Generation Tech) – Self-harm is much more common among girls than among boys, so we’ll focus on girls. The CDC keeps data on emergency room admissions for intentional self-harm, and the 2022 data were just released. The news is not good. ER admissions … Read More
June 17, 2024
(Washington Post via Yahoo! News) – Medical research has shortchanged women for decades. This is particularly true of older women, leaving physicians without critically important information about how to best manage their health. Late last year, the Biden administration promised to address … Read More
May 29, 2024
(STAT News) – Menstruation is a critical indicator of health. Whether and when someone with a uterus gets their period — for the first time, and throughout their life — can reflect not only their reproductive health, but their risk … Read More
May 29, 2024
(NBC via Yahoo!) – The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug in August, but it took months for supply to become available. Several psychiatrists said they’re just starting to write their first prescriptions, since it has taken time to … Read More
May 28, 2024
(NBC News) – Florida has become the first state to allow doctors to perform cesarean sections outside of hospitals, siding with a private equity-owned physicians group that says the change will lower costs and give pregnant women the homier birthing … Read More
May 24, 2024
(KFF Health News) – In much of the developed world, dying while pregnant or delivering a child is practically unknown. In Australia, for example, there were just 3 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2021. But that’s not … Read More
May 20, 2024
May 15, 2024
(NBC News) – Perinatal depression affects as many as 20% of women in the United States during pregnancy, the postpartum period, or both, according to studies. In some states, anxiety or depression afflicts nearly a quarter of new mothers or … Read More
May 6, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Doctors are rallying around an audacious goal: eliminating a cancer for the first time. Cervical cancer rates in the U.S. have dropped by more than half since the 1970s. Pap tests enable doctors to purge precancerous … Read More
May 2, 2024
(NPR) – Economist Emily Oster made a name for herself using data to tackle big questions about pregnancy in her 2013 blockbuster book Expecting Better. Now, she’s returning to the topic with a book on how to navigate difficult pregnancies … Read More
May 2, 2024
(NPR) – The benefits of hormone therapy for the treatment of menopause symptoms outweigh the risks. That’s the conclusion of a new study published in the medical journal JAMA. “Among women below the age of 60, we found hormone therapy … Read More
May 1, 2024
(Axios) – An influential national advisory group has called for women to start getting mammograms beginning at age 40, but only every two years — a recommendation that highlights a rift within the cancer community. Why it matters: The U.S. … Read More
May 1, 2024
(CNBC) – Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday said it plans to pay $6.5 billion over 25 years to settle nearly all of the thousands of lawsuits in the U.S. claiming its talc-based products caused ovarian cancer, pending approval of the … Read More
April 30, 2024
(Axios) – The rate of cesarean births in the U.S. has gone up, again. Why it matters: About one in three births in the U.S. are C-sections, according to new data, well above the 10-15% rate that the WHO considers … Read More
April 30, 2024
(Vox) – For many years, the effectiveness of the procedure was a bit of a black box: Not enough people had tried to use their frozen eggs for scientists to pull together reliable data. Now, however, a picture is emerging. … Read More
April 26, 2024
(Los Angeles Times via Yahoo! News) – For decades, the abortion wars have centered on whether a woman should be able to decide when and if she has a child. But with increasingly strict restrictions on reproductive rights being enacted … Read More
April 24, 2024
(Generation Tech) – When discussing age and suicide, it’s become near-gospel to note that suicide rates are highest among the middle-aged. “Suicide rates highest among middle-aged men,” read the headline of a 2017 NBC News article. The website for the … Read More
April 22, 2024
(Axios) – There are growing efforts in medicine to correct a major blind spot: women’s pain. Why it matters: The impact of social media testimonies and a greater systemic focus on women’s health are helping drive a shift in how … Read More
