Microplastics in placentas linked to premature births, study suggests

Tiny plastic pollution more than 50% higher in placentas from preterm births than in those from full-term births

A study has found microplastic and nanoplastic pollution to be significantly higher in placentas from premature births than in those from full-term births.

The levels were much higher than previously detected in blood, suggesting the tiny plastic particles were accumulating in the placenta. But the higher average levels found in the shorter pregnancies were a “big surprise” for the researchers, as longer terms could be expected to lead to more accumulation.

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I am a midwife in a NSW hospital. This is what an ordinary day looks like | Oceane Campbell

I can give women life-saving medications and resuscitate babies, yet we are still the lowest paid of our profession in the country

It’s the start of my shift as a midwife in a New South Wales hospital. I feel like I am doing a lot for my $45 per hour. I am caring for a woman in the throes of labour. Her eyes are glassy, her vocalisations frantic. She is in transition, a time in labour you can feel terrified and out of control. I hold her and ground her with my well-practised voice, refined from more than 10 years of experience.

I set up a baby Resuscitaire in case it is needed. I document heart rates and clean up body fluids while also educating a student working with me. We write down vital signs and draw up drugs ready to administer. Do you know that midwives can initiate dosages of morphine, antibiotics and other drugs without having to bother a doctor?

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Katie Price: Making Babies review – truly repugnant television

This documentary about Price and her partner’s attempt to have a child may have spawned acres of coverage, but there is no delving into the agonies of infertility, which makes it depthless, thoughtless and downright offensive

The relentless belligerence of Katie Price is one of the wonders of the modern world. She could start a fight in an empty house. It’s fascinating.

In Katie Price: Making Babies, her ire is directed at her fiance Carl (“I love Kate. She gives me a headache. A migraine. But I’m still here.”), the ravages of time, the female reproductive system and the idea of being thwarted by the accumulated evidence, in the form of scans, blood tests and samples taken by her doctors, that the general laws of a 45-year-old (at the time of filming) woman’s biology apply to her too.

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UK women who suffer miscarriage should get two weeks’ paid leave, MPs say

Government urged to introduce universal right of bereavement leave as ‘time to grieve’ early pregnancy loss

Women who suffer a miscarriage should get two weeks of paid leave from work so they can mourn the loss of their baby, an influential group of MPs has said today.

The government is under mounting pressure to introduce a new right of bereavement leave for women across the UK who lose their baby before 24 weeks’ gestation. That happens 250,000 times every year.

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Reliance on fertility apps on rise in England and Wales, study shows

Trend away from hormonal contraception corresponds to rise in abortion rates, say researchers

Women in England and Wales are increasingly ditching the pill in favour of fertility-tracking apps, raising the risk of a rise in unplanned pregnancies, a study suggests.

Researchers concluded there had been a shift in attitudes towards contraception in the last five years, from “more reliable” hormonal options, such as the pill and the implant, to “fertility awareness-based methods”.

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I am a rational liberal, yet a question about the sanctity of life floored me | Sonia Sodha

Hosting a radio show on ethics made me see that moral instinct isn’t the inferior cousin of reason

A decade ago, I’d have proudly – and smugly – donned my “I’m a liberal” badge. What’s not to like about liberalism, the idea that people are free to live their lives the way they want, so long as they’re not harming anyone else, and the state promotes equality of opportunity through a decent welfare state? It’s the politics of liberalism that paved the way for legislative reforms on race discrimination and gay marriage that have gone hand in hand with declining levels of social prejudice.

I still regard these as important markers of progress. But today I feel sheepish about how simplistic my worldview used to be. Liberalism has much to offer, but there are risks in embracing it as an overarching political philosophy without a degree of humility about its shortcomings: its hollow silence over how to navigate knotty ethical issues where society needs some kind of shared understanding. This queasiness about morality means liberals sometimes look the other way when others smuggle in controversial ethical assumptions under the guise of choice and autonomy.

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New mothers don’t need to be bombarded with unsolicited advice – they need reassurance | Jodi Wilson

When we talk about the difficult parts of motherhood we provide emotional cushioning for what can be a deeply challenging experience

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In the discombobulation of postpartum, reassurance is what all new mothers need.

When sleep deprived and aching, when doubt spirals are common and overwhelm rife, a new mother will look to those who have mothered before her. There is nothing more comforting in the inevitable haze of milk and tears than someone saying: “I think you’re right, and you’re doing really well.”

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We can tell the truth about pregnancy without scaring women to death – in fact, it’s vital that we do | Emily Oster

Many women have no idea about the potential complications until they happen. Without discussion there is no treatment or prevention

There is an inherent tension between two basic facts about childbirth. On the one hand, it has happened billions and billions of times in the course of human history and it has been successful in a wide range of settings, from neolithic caves to state-of-the-art hospitals. On the other, it is objectively dangerous in many cases.

This tension can be felt in much of the modern popular discourse on birth. On my Instagram feed, there are depictions of unmedicated home births in a bathtub surrounded by flowers and a caption about how birth has got too medicalised. Some commenters are quick to note that, in their case, having that medical help was life-saving. To put it most starkly: yes, people have been giving birth at home for millions of years, but a lot of them died.

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