Covid-19 threatens access to abortions and contraceptives, experts warn

Unplanned pregnancy rates have fallen globally, report finds, but coronavirus could endanger access to services

Rates of unplanned pregnancies have fallen around the world, according to new data published by health research organisation the Guttmacher Institute and the UN Human Reproduction Programme (HRP) on Wednesday.

Global rates of unintended pregnancies have fallen from 79 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 49 in 1990 to 64 in 2019, thanks in part to a concerted effort to increase access to contraceptives, but there are concerns that decades of progress in reducing the numbers risk being undone by Covid-19, as lockdown restrictions hamper health services.

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From undercooked statistics to over-simplification: what The Bold Type got wrong about pregnancy loss

Stories of miscarriage are so rare in popular culture, it’s even more disappointing when they’re mishandled

Twenty-seven seconds. That’s how long it took for a doctor on the American comedy-drama The Bold Type to give lead character Sutton a scan and then tell her she was having a miscarriage.

The entire appointment, from the time the doctor walked in the door to the time she walked out, was depicted in one minute and 51 seconds.

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Ask women gently in an appropriate setting and it’s astonishing how many will have experienced pregnancy loss

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Pregnancy warning mandatory on alcoholic beverages within three years

Warning labels have been voluntary since 2011, but AMA president says they can not be left in the hands of those motivated by profit

The alcohol industry has been given a 12-month extension but will have to ensure pregnancy health warning labels are placed on all bottles and cans within three years.

Australian and New Zealand ministers on Friday granted beverage makers an extra year for the transition with the labels to say “pregnancy warning” rather than “health warning” as initially proposed.

Related: Harm from drinking alcohol at home spikes in Australia amid coronavirus

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The power of touch: I didn't hold my daughter until she was three days old | Salamishah Tillet

I was afraid my inability to breastfeed her or engage in skin-to-skin contact would harm her, but I was also burdened by another history

Welcome to the Guardian’s Power of Touch series

I had to wait three days after my daughter Seneca was born to hold her. She arrived punctually just before sunrise on her due date, a fact I have interpreted as her over-accommodating me, because it enabled me to drive to UPS and mail off my tenure dossier on time.

Nine hours later, as my partner, Solomon, my sister, Scheherazade, and I drove to the hospital with a maternity bag filled with a lavender-scented eye mask, breastfeeding pyjamas and a white-noise machine, I noticed only a handful of cars on the highway, the glare of their headlights guiding us to the hospital, four suburbs and 30 minutes away from our New Jersey townhouse.

Enslaved black women knew that to touch and hold their babies, who could be sold off at any minute, was a huge risk and a revolutionary act

Salamishah Tillet is the Henry Rutgers professor of African American studies and creative writing at Rutgers University, Newark.

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Baby boy infected with coronavirus in womb

French study is believed to be first such confirmed case but doctors say infant has made good recovery

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Doctors in France have reported what they believe to be the first proven case of Covid-19 being passed on from a pregnant woman to her baby in the womb.

The newborn boy developed inflammation in the brain within days of being born, a condition brought on after the virus crossed the placenta and established an infection prior to birth. He has since made a good recovery.

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The Guardian view on a women’s health scandal: under the skin | Editorial

An official review of vaginal mesh and medicines in pregnancy reveals systemic weaknesses, and sexism too

Greater openness about women’s bodies was one of the big themes of postwar feminism. Access to contraception and the right to terminate a pregnancy were crucial stepping stones on a path to liberation from a social order that for centuries constrained women. The right to choose whether to have children is now well established, along with access to education, employment and equal pay (although gender pay and pension gaps remain). But sexism has not gone away. Among the findings of the Independent Medical Devices and Medicines Safety Review set up to investigate vaginal mesh implants is that the UK’s health system has a habit of ignoring women.

One patient likened the search for a doctor who would take seriously her concerns about the implants, which were widely used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence until 2018, to “traipsing through treacle”. A former doctor referred to an “unconscious negative bias” towards middle-aged women in chronic pain. The report described a culture in which “anything and everything” women said about their discomfort was put down to the menopause.

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The pelvic mesh scandal makes it clear: doctors must declare any funding | Margaret McCartney

We need a public register to show if healthcare professionals are in the pay of industry – or more patients will suffer

It was never “just women’s problems”. After decades of having their suffering dismissed, many patients will have been relieved about the publication of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review yesterday. Led by Julia Cumberlege, the review has spent two years investigating three medical interventions: pelvic mesh, used in prolapse surgery, which resulted in chronic, life-changing pain for many women; Primodos, a hormonal pregnancy test, used up until 1978; and sodium valproate, an epilepsy treatment. The latter two have both been linked with birth defects.

Related: Denial of women's concerns contributed to decades of medical scandals, says inquiry

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After a miscarriage, advice to ‘just make another baby’ made me feel worse

Up to half of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. It’s not uncommon to endure anxiety and depression – and many face pressure to get pregnant again

My husband, Peter, sat in a chair watching me pace a small, sterile room. I was supposed to be lying on the examination table, but I needed to move.

In the days leading up to our appointment, every time I felt a cramp, I went to the bathroom expecting to see blood. When my daily morning sickness briefly subsided, I assumed it was because I had miscarried. For weeks, I battled to fit into my regular pants every morning, jumping up and down to try to get them on. But I refused to unpack my maternity clothes that were stored in the basement.

Related: 'I went to bed hungry': being denied an abortion can lead to financial turmoil

It made me question my ability to carry a healthy pregnancy, sparking an anxiety to quickly get pregnant again

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My four miscarriages: why is losing a pregnancy so shrouded in mystery? – podcast

After losing four pregnancies, Jennie Agg set out to unravel the science of miscarriage. Then, a few months in, she found out she was pregnant again – just as the coronavirus pandemic hit

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Woman loses legal challenge to NHS charges for pregnant migrants

Charity and woman argued government policy hindered access to maternity healthcare

A woman who faces decades of repayments to the NHS for maternity care has lost a case in the high court challenging the government’s healthcare charging regime for migrants.

The woman, who cannot be named, brought the legal challenge along with the charity Maternity Action, which works to end inequality and improve healthcare for pregnant women.

Related: Charging migrant women for maternity care puts us all to shame | Nell Frizzell

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