Giving stem cells in utero to babies with spina bifida boosts quality of life, trial finds

Experimental therapy of applying stem cells during surgery could be ‘major milestone’ in treatment of birth defects

Giving stem cells to unborn babies diagnosed with spina bifida while they have in utero surgery could be “a major milestone” in the treatment of birth defects, doctors say.

A trial in the US found that applying stem cells from the mother’s placenta to her baby’s spine while it was being repaired was safe and improved the child’s mobility and quality of life.

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What is the national maternity and neonatal investigation and why was it launched?

From racism to staff shortages, the interim report found a host of deep-rooted issues affecting women and babies

• NHS maternity units often cover up harmful errors in childbirth, report finds

• Cruel comments, racism and cover-ups: key findings from England’s maternity care report

On Thursday, a damning interim report published after a national investigation into England’s maternity services found deep-rooted issues affecting women and their babies, including insensitivity from maternity staff, racism and discrimination, and chronic staff shortages. Below is an exploration of what led to the report and what happens next.

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Placenta complications and how the NHS manages them | Letter

Prof Eric Jauniaux explains the causes of placenta previa and placenta accreta spectrum

I am the lead developer of the Royal College of Gynaecologists’ Green-top guidelines on placenta previa and placenta accreta spectrum (PAS), referenced in your article (Campaign urges NHS to improve diagnosis of potentially life-threatening childbirth condition, 18 February). I also have personal experience of placental delivery complications, as when my son was born, his placenta got stuck inside the womb of his mother after his birth (placental retention).

Placental retention is due to the premature closure of the cervix after the birth of the baby, and is a leading cause of uterine atony and postpartum haemorrhage, affecting around one in 100 births.

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Campaign urges NHS to improve diagnosis of potentially life-threatening childbirth condition

Exclusive: Five hospitals failed to spot Amisha Adhia had placenta accreta before one obstetrician intervened

After five hospitals failed to spot that she had a rare but potentially fatal complication of childbirth, Amisha Adhia is to launch a campaign urging the NHS to do more to diagnose the condition and save lives.

Pregnant women are at much greater risk of developing placenta accreta spectrum if they have already given birth by caesarean section or had IVF treatment.

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I was told my inability to conceive a second child was a ‘mystery’. In fact I was simply ignored

Women’s pain is routinely minimised, normalised, or psychologised. In fertility medicine, this dismissal is compounded by an industry structured around efficiency rather than care

“The female body is such a mystery.”

The fertility specialist said it lightly, almost kindly, from behind his desk. I was there because my partner and I had been trying for a second child without success. At the time, our son was two. We had conceived him naturally and relatively quickly, so after months of negative pregnancy tests, I knew that something was off.

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Mixed message in France’s letter about fertility | Letters

Daniel Whittington writes that it shows a lack of understanding; plus letters on the length of maternity leave and the emotional cost of leaving conception too late

As a 24-year-old French man, I think this plan (France’s letters to 29-year-olds to remind them to have babies is a spectacular missing of the point, 10 February) reveals a mind‑boggling lack of understanding by our country’s leaders of what is actually going through the minds of our generation.

For as long as I can remember, teachers, scientists and the media have been telling us that the world is essentially ending and that life on Earth will not endure. The tone varies, but that is the general message we have grown up with.

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Almost 70% of NHS areas in England only offer one cycle of IVF, data shows

Charity says situation breaks Nice guidelines and is having devastating impact on couples struggling with infertility

Millions of women in England are only able to access one round of IVF on the NHS because of health authority cutbacks and in contravention of official policy, research from a fertility charity has shown.

Nearly 70% of local areas fund just one cycle for women under 40 who have been unable to conceive for two years, rather than the three full cycles they should be offered in line with official guidance, according to data collected by the Progress Educational Trust (PET).

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‘Part of our biological toolkit’: newborn babies can anticipate rhythm in music, researchers find

Brain activity suggests newborns can detect and predict patterns relating to rhythm, study says

Newborn babies can anticipate rhythm in pieces of music, researchers have discovered, offering insights into a fundamental human trait.

Babies in the womb begin to respond to music by about eight or nine months, as shown by changes in their heart rate and body movements, said Dr Roberta Bianco, the first author of the research who is based at the Italian Institute of Technology in Rome.

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Lelia Duley obituary

My wife, Lelia Duley, who has died aged 67, was an obstetric epidemiologist who studied health outcomes related to pregnancy, childbirth and its aftermath.

Working alongside frontline clinicians, she designed large-scale trials to test commonly used, but under-evaluated, treatments for pregnant women.

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Support new mothers with mental ill health | Letter

Perinatal mental illness is eminently treatable, and women and their partners should not suffer in silence, says Dr Livia Martucci

Every day, many new mothers continue to suffer in silence, as highlighted in your article (Seven out of 10 UK mothers feel overloaded, research reveals, 28 January). The Royal College of Psychiatrists revealed postnatal depression harmed up to 85,000 new mums in England last year.

Maternal suicide is one of the leading causes of death among women between six weeks and a year after birth. Perinatal mental illness accounts for 34% of all deaths in this group during this period. Untreated prenatal and antenatal mental illness also affects unborn infants, potentially putting them at risk of premature birth and low birth weight. Parents may find it difficult to bond with their baby once they are born, which can contribute to attachment issues.

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Anna longed for a second child. Coming to terms with secondary infertility meant letting go of her fixed notion of family | Bianca Denny

Therapy helped her sit with the uncertainty of being part of a single-child family – and realise others’ successes with pregnancy were not her failures

• The modern mind is a column where experts discuss mental health issues they are seeing in their work

Anna* delighted in motherhood and was eager to add a second child to her family. She expected conception and pregnancy to again be quick and easy, but after a year of negative pregnancy tests, Anna’s doctor used a term she’d not heard before: secondary infertility.

For Anna, the anguish associated with secondary infertility – the inability to conceive or carry to term a second or subsequent child – was pervading all aspects of her life. Anna believed her family to be incomplete without a second child and was devastated at the thought of her child growing up without a sibling.

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