I’m ditching Natural Cycles, but I still believe in tech-based contraception | Nichi Hodgson

Decades of research have gone into condoms, the coil and the pill – we need to give next-generation birth control a chance

• Natural Cycles app: ‘highly accurate contraceptive’ claim misled consumers

It’s with a heavy heart that I’ve paused my subscription to the contraceptive app Natural Cycles this week. It follows the news that the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that the app cannot with confidence advertise itself as a “highly accurate contraceptive”, primarily because the statistics on its efficacy – that only seven in 100 women using it will become pregnant – come from a study conducted by the company that developed the app itself.

Natural Cycles promotes itself as a form of non-hormonal, non-intrusive contraception. Women input information about their menstrual cycles and body temperature into the app, and it uses algorithms to predict which days they are at risk of getting pregnant in the event of unprotected sex.

Related: Rise of contraceptive apps sparks fears over unwanted pregnancies

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'I didn’t get arrested, I got rescued': jail is a lifeline for some pregnant women

Incarceration is some women’s only shot at pregnancy healthcare – but the quality varies enormously

When Evelyn (name changed) found out she was pregnant, she panicked. Thanks to a criminal record, she struggled to find work. Without a regular job, she’d been unable to rent housing and was staying in a single-room occupancy hotel in San Francisco’s Mission District. That was after a stint living on the streets. And while she had technically been able to get insurance through Medicaid, with so much daily stress in her life, the added challenge of seeking out – and affording – regular prenatal care seemed insurmountable.

So when she was arrested and jailed after turning herself in for an outstanding warrant during the third trimester of her pregnancy and she began receiving prenatal care in prison, her incarceration felt like a blessing. “I didn’t get arrested, I got rescued,” she later told Dr Carolyn Sufrin, the OB/GYN who cared for her at the San Francisco county jail.

Related: Gifting moms vacation days is cute - but could we give them rights instead?

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NHS maternity units were forced to close 287 times last year

Labour says turning away expectant mothers is ‘disgrace’ and blames Tories for midwife shortage

Almost half of maternity units at hospitals in England were closed to expectant mothers at least once during 2017, research by Labour has found, with the party blaming staff shortages and other resourcing problems.

Freedom of information (FoI) requests by Labour identified almost 300 occasions when maternity units were closed and expectant mothers sent elsewhere, with the most common reasons cited being a lack of capacity and staffing issues.

Related: NHS leaves one in four mothers alone during labour or childbirth

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Instead of judging women who want a C-section, why not listen? | Rebecca Schiller

When it comes to birth planning, the woman’s needs should be paramount. It should make no difference if she asks for a caesarean

If a pregnant woman doesn’t feel safe pushing her baby out, should she be forced to? In theory, of course not. But today Birthrights – the charity promoting human rights in childbirth that I run – released a report showing the worrying treatment of British women who request a caesarean-section birth.

Transparency about what happens to women who ask for a C-section is long overdue. Since its revision in 2011, the Nice best-practice guidance has rightly recognised that women should always be the primary decision-makers in childbirth, while also protecting the right of individual doctors to decline to support an individual who requests a C-section on non-medical grounds. Despite this guidance, Birthrights’ advice service now handles more requests for support on this issue than on any other.

Related: One in six NHS trusts do not offer caesareans on request – charity

Promoting a particular way of giving birth as the best or right way simply divides us

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One in six NHS trusts do not offer maternal request caesareans

Charity suggests blanket bans could be incompatible with human rights law

Almost one in six NHS trusts in the UK do not offer women caesarean sections on request and many more have inconsistent policies, a charity has said.

Official guidance states that women should be offered a planned c-section “if after discussion and offer of support ... a vaginal birth is still not an acceptable option”.

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My girlfriend and I thought she had appendicitis – then she gave birth

Most people have nine months of pregnancy to prepare for parenthood, we had three hours

Shortly after my daughter was born, I found myself kneeling on the floor of our house in Nottingham, carefully cutting her out of a babygrow with a pair of scissors. There was no emergency – I was simply so overwhelmed at being left alone to look after her, and she looked so fragile that I didn’t want to hurt her by bending her delicate little arms. So I resorted to scissors.

I am sure most new fathers feel helpless, and even after nine months’ preparation, terrified of doing the wrong thing. But I didn’t even have the luxury of those nine months of pregnancy to get ready – I had just three hours’ notice. At 11.45pm on 11 May 2015, I was 29, carefree and child-free. By 12 May 2015 at 3am, I was a dad.

Had we known, we certainly wouldn't have gone ziplining the weekend before Lyndsay gave birth

I didn’t know what I was doing. I was sleep-deprived, scared and ​​clueless

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Adele shares story of friend's postpartum psychosis to help new mothers

‘Talk about how you’re feeling,’ singer urges, as experts say taboos can leave people isolated

Perinatal health experts and campaigners have praised the singer Adele for highlighting the issue of postpartum psychosis in new mothers.

Her best friend, Laura Dockrill – a poet, author, illustrator and short story writer – was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis after giving birth to a boy, who is Adele’s godson.

Related: Postnatal depression: fathers can suffer similar issues to women, say experts

Related: Postnatal depression – ‘I felt disembodied for so long but suddenly I was back in my own body’

Related: Postnatal depression is not a new phenomenon, only a chronically ignored one

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America's hottest export? Sperm

An American and a Danish company dominate the global sperm market – and both claim their supply is biggest

Ella Rasmussen’s doctors started to prod her about children when she turned 30. She was single, suffered from endometriosis, and contemplated a hysterectomy. After several years, the nudges took hold. Because she wasn’t a good candidate to freeze only her eggs, she was advised to undergo IVF and freeze fertilized embryos.

Related: My IVF life: the fake ass, the trigger shot and how I decided to get pregnant

Related: Diane Abbott: 'Before going to bed, I wrap my hair and have a cup of camomile tea'

Related: The male infertility crisis: ‘My failure at fatherhood ate away at my very being’

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Bump in the road: how to deliver a baby in an emergency

A woman gave birth to her son next to the M25 on Monday. What should you do if you have to help someone in labour?

The M25 does not feature in many birth plans, but for one woman who gave birth to her baby boy on the roadside after a coach crash on the M25 on Monday, that was the reality. So, what can you do if you find yourself having to deliver a baby when there are no experts around to do it? Clare Livingstone, a professional policy adviser for the Royal College of Midwives, who has delivered a baby on the back seat of a car, has lots of advice.

The mother will naturally try and catch the baby, too, and that’s absolutely fine

Related: Experience: I gave birth in an Uber

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New Zealand to consider miscarriage leave for parents in bid to tackle 'taboo' subject

Women and their partners could be entitled to three days of paid bereavement leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth

A bill legislating three days’ paid bereavement leave for women and their partners after a miscarriage will be considered by New Zealand’s parliament.

The Labour MP Ginny Andersen, who sponsored the bill, said miscarriage was still a “taboo subject” in New Zealand and paid leave to grieve for the loss of a baby – at any stage of the pregnancy – would bring the subject into the open. The proposed bill also covers stillbirths.

Related: New Zealand MP uses C-word at rally in call to reclaim it from abusers

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Campaigners await UK decision on abortion clinic buffer zones

Pro-choice activists say they expect announcement from Home Office within weeks

Campaigners calling for buffer zones to prevent harassment and abuse of women accessing abortion centres are expecting a Home Office announcement within weeks.

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Jacinda Ardern: ‘Having a baby around changes the tone a little bit’

In an interview with the Guardian, New Zealand PM reflects on life after giving birth

Jacinda Ardern is having a busy week. By early Friday afternoon she had launched a plastic bag ban, negotiated an end to a strike by nurses and announced plans for a new mental health hospital.

From the outside it appears to be business as usual for New Zealand’s prime minister. But seven weeks ago Ardern became only the second leader in the world to give birth while in office, and on Monday she returned to work having to juggle the responsibilities of office with the demands of parenthood.

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Motherhood isn’t easy – even for a warrior like Serena Williams | Gaby Hinsliff

The athlete is brave to admit to the physical and emotional toll of being a mother – she will give heart to ordinary women

Serena Williams is a warrior. Even people who know next to nothing about tennis know that; we’ve all read about how she bounced back from almost dying giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia, to playing tournaments six months later. She is astonishing, Amazonian, famously not as other mortals.

But she is also, it seems, fighting a very different battle off court. Days after being thrashed by the British player Johanna Konta, Williams wrote on Instagram that she had been worrying about “not being a good mom” and was still processing “postpartum emotions” that she hints have affected her game. She described her conflicted feelings about an intense training schedule that means she’s not with her daughter as much as she’d like, in terms that many new mothers returning to rather less high-profile jobs will recognise. What had been a straightforwardly uplifting fairytale – woman has baby, comes back even stronger, and in the process shows everyone that motherhood doesn’t have to take it out of you – is becoming more complicated. We’re now seeing a more vulnerable side of Williams, as she concedes that in some senses motherhood has changed her; that her astonishing physical strength sometimes conceals psychological turmoil.

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'I felt I was not a good mom': Serena Williams details post-partum struggles

• Grand slam champion says motherhood has affected recent form
• American suffered heavy defeat to Johanna Konta last week

Serena Williams has said concerns over motherhood have affected her recent form.

Williams suffered the heaviest defeat of her career last week when she lost 6-1, 6-0 in just 52 minutes to Britain’s Johanna Konta at the the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.

Last week was not easy for me. Not only was I accepting some tough personal stuff, but I just was in a funk. Mostly, I felt like I was not a good mom. I read several articles that said postpartum emotions can last up to 3 years if not dealt with. I like communication best. Talking things through with my mom, my sisters, my friends let me know that my feelings are totally normal. It’s totally normal to feel like I’m not doing enough for my baby. We have all been there. I work a lot, I train, and I’m trying to be the best athlete I can be. However, that means although I have been with her every day of her life, I’m not around as much as I would like to be. Most of you moms deal with the same thing. Whether stay-at-home or working, finding that balance with kids is a true art. You are the true heroes. I’m here to say: if you are having a rough day or week--it’s ok--I am, too!!! There’s always tomm!

Related: Ronaldo and Serena defy the race against time for elite athletes | Paul MacInnes

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My IVF life: the science experiment to make a baby – from a partner's view

E, Jean Hannah Edelstein’s husband, explains his side of IVF treatment, from the sperm analysis to the importance of patience

What’s it like to be the partner of someone going through IVF treatment? This week, I sat down to discuss the experience with my husband, E. Like me, E is in his mid-30s and has never had kids before. Here’s what he told me.

We discussed IVF very early in our relationship – it’s been with us basically from the beginning. On our first date we talked about cancer in our families – I lost my mom about a year before you lost your dad, you told me about Lynch syndrome – and we talked about having kids. So we must have talked about it, too. We all get to places in different ways. So, if having kids couldn’t work for you the old-fashioned way, it made sense that we’d take a different route.

Related: My IVF life: let's talk money. At $12,000 out of pocket, it's a bargain

Related: My IVF life: the moody, exhausting, doughy hormones and egg retrievals

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