Living with polycystic ovary syndrome can be difficult and lonely | Letters

The NHS needs to provide better understanding and support for people with the condition, says one reader

Thank you for publishing the article about polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff (I was diagnosed with PCOS – and was soon drowning in misinformation, 22 June). It resonated with my experience of diagnosis and frustration at the complete lack of support. I was first tested in my teens and told my blood test was normal. I was retested at 34 when I went to my GP about weight gain and struggling with exhaustion. When I was confirmed to have PCOS I was warned about the health issues, and told the best thing I could do was lose weight, even though this would be very difficult, and to come back when I was struggling to conceive.

Charlie is right: the amount of time and energy I had to put in to try to understand how to be healthy has been a huge drain. Especially sifting through the masses of misinformation. It took me two years and a lot of hard work to understand a diet and exercise plan that worked for me. It’s been difficult and lonely trying to navigate this on my own.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/M8QcbjN

Equivalent of one child in every British classroom now born via IVF, data shows

Proportion of women giving birth after fertility treatment up by more than a third in a decade, figures reveal

The proportion of women giving birth after fertility treatment in the UK has increased by more than a third in a decade, with the equivalent of one child in every classroom now born as a result of IVF, figures show.

One in 32 births in 2023 were the result of in vitro fertilisation, up 34% from one in 43 in 2013, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/UwKMjQf

All parents need someone in their corner like we had. But for First Nations parents, having an Aboriginal midwife is essential | Narelda Jacobs and Karina Natt

Being in an Aboriginal midwifery program meant we had a culturally safe experience from both a First Nations and an LGBTIQA+ perspective

When we first shared our pregnancy news with friends, the advice from those who had been through birth was to get into a midwifery program. But the midwifery programs at our local hospital were full – or so we thought.

When we were offered a place in an Aboriginal midwifery program, we declined. Narelda, a Whadjuk Noongar woman, was not the birth parent – Karina was – and we didn’t want to take the place of someone who might need it more than us. We knew the healthcare system is notoriously culturally unsafe and this racism and discrimination is contributing to the shocking statistic of Indigenous women being three times more likely to die during childbirth.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/UXhWEtP

Wes Streeting announces investigation into NHS maternity services

Health secretary announces ‘rapid’ national inquiry into failings in NHS care of mothers and babies in England

• UK politics live – latest updates

The health secretary, Wes Streeting, has announced the launch of a national investigation into NHS maternity services.

The new rapid investigation is intended to provide truth to families suffering harm, as well as driving urgent improvements to care and safety.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/f59RVWB

‘Wrapped in culture’: NSW birthing centre next step in long road to better maternity services for Aboriginal mothers

To be built among the trees in South Nowra, the maternity centre will aim to improve clinical outcomes for women and babies by fusing traditional and non-traditional practices

• Read more from our investigation into the maternal health and infant removal crisis facing First Nations women in Australia

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Melanie Briggs is gazing out at a grassy field, swatting away mosquitoes as we walk through the brush and scrub on a sunny autumn afternoon on the New South Wales south coast. We come to a stop amid the knee-length grasses where the tall eucalyptus trees reach up to the blue sky. Here she unfurls her vision for women giving birth on country.

“I can see the first birth here,” she says. “It will happen at night.”

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/GC4pnxo

Birth alerts are meant to help children at risk of abuse. They are routinely used against Aboriginal mothers

Medical professionals are required to report at-risk children to child protective services – but to some agencies ‘just being Black’s a risk’

• Read more from our investigation into the maternal health and infant removal crisis facing First Nations women in Australia

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

At the end of 2024, Rachel* was days away from giving birth. Her feet were dangerously swollen and she was sleeping rough outside an Aboriginal support service in the city.

Her reluctance to seek antenatal care meant the usual routine of scurrying between midwives and doctors appointments for ultrasounds, blood tests and screenings was absent.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/OiMBAQs

Bobbi was denied access to an Aboriginal midwifery program in her last pregnancy – and nearly lost her life

Indigenous women report experiencing racism, inadequate care and lack of consent in maternity wards – and are three times more likely to die during childbirth

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

After a life-threatening three-day labour, Bobbi Lockyer woke up alone in a single room in the intensive care unit of a Perth hospital with an IV drip in her arm. She had lost five litres of blood and had been rushed to intensive care for an emergency hysterectomy. Her new baby had been discharged while she was unconscious into the care of her now ex-partner.

“I woke up alone and thought something had happened to my baby,” she says. “I was distraught.”

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/w8McS9X