‘Baby brain’ is often referenced jokingly and dismissively when discussing pregnancy and forgetfulness. But a new brain scan study reveals something more profound: pregnancy does not weaken the brain, it rewires it. Neelam Tailor explores what this means for neuroscience and caregiving, and how little we still understand about women’s health
Continue reading...Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
Indra Wilson’s imaginative monologue is a touching exploration of grief and hope through space travel
If you ever need an extended metaphor, just ask Indra Wilson. In a feat of sustained poetic imagination, the playwright describes pregnancy – and pregnancy loss – in terms of space travel. And it is not just a passing analogy but a complete vision, from lift-off to orbit to “Houston, we have a problem”.
Remarkably the metaphor does not wear thin. Rather, it powers a beautiful and touching exploration of an intrepid journey undertaken and never completed.
Continue reading...Incineration of $9.7m of contraceptives to lead to 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions, IPPF says
A decision by the US government to incinerate more than $9.7m of contraceptives is projected to result in 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions in five African countries.
More than three-quarters of the contraceptives (77%) were destined for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Mali, according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), an NGO global healthcare provider and advocate of sexual and reproductive rights.
Continue reading...A recent FDA advisory panel discussion contained falsehoods and overstated risks. That’s dangerous for mothers-to-be
Late last month, the FDA advisory panel – on the heels of the president’s “make America healthy again” executive order scrutinizing psychotropic medications – raised debate around the safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in pregnancy. Commonly called antidepressants, these medications are used to treat a range of disorders, and earlier this year a consortium of major mental health organizations pushed back on the administration’s stance.
As a perinatal psychiatrist who sees pregnant and postpartum people struggling with conditions such as depression and anxiety every week, I’m deeply concerned that this public discussion – chaired by the controversial FDA commissioner Marty Makary – shared significant misinformation about mental illness and the treatment modalities (with overly simplified statements denouncing “chemicals” during pregnancy).
Continue reading...Jaime Slaughter-Acey’s study addresses the high rates of maternal mortality among Black women in the US. Trump’s NIH funding cuts threaten her years-long research
Jaime Slaughter-Acey was in a state of shock and anger when she learned that her National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study on birth outcomes in Black families was cancelled this spring. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill associate professor in epidemiology said that she felt like “the rug was pulled out from under us” when the university called her to share the news. The termination notice said that the study no longer met the agency’s priorities and didn’t promise to increase life expectancy.
“It was heartbreaking,” Slaughter-Acey told the Guardian, “and honestly, infuriating given the high rates of maternal and infant mortality in this country.”
Continue reading...Dr Wendy Bryant responds to an article by Abi Stephenson about hyperemesis gravidarum
Abi Stephenson’s article about hyperemesis gravidarum – “extreme morning sickness” – carried me through memories, confirmation, horror and, at last, hope (Don’t call it morning sickness: ‘At times in my pregnancy I wondered if this was death coming for me’, 31 July).
When I hear of a new pregnancy, I ask after the mother, recalling my two pregnancies in the early 1990s. Both ended with successful delivery, and I can’t imagine life without my two children. But I wonder whether my daughter will have inherited my predisposition to sickness throughout pregnancy, just as I did from my own mother.
Continue reading...