‘Grief becomes a routine’: Farhana lost five babies. A ‘culture of silence’ exacerbated her pain

A first-of-its-kind study shows the prevalence of miscarriage in Australia but experts fear multicultural groups remain underrepresented

On a quiet street in western Sydney, Farhana Laffernis races her curious English staffy and boisterous three-year-old daughter in the front door.

Inside, her three-year-old wears a pink tutu and excitedly babbles as she cuddles her toy doll. The family life Laffernis has built did not come easy.

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Experience: I didn’t know I was pregnant until I gave birth

There’d been no morning sickness, cravings or tiredness. My mum didn’t believe I’d had a baby – even after seeing her on FaceTime

When I was 19, I went to college in Texas, where I met my ­boyfriend Preston. It was 2023 and I had big plans. After ­finishing my degree in criminal justice, I wanted to go to law school. I wasn’t in a rush to get married or have kids. My mum had drilled into me a fear of getting pregnant at a young age. I was on the pill and careful with contraception.

In May 2025, I took a trip to London, returning to campus in August after the summer holidays. I noticed I was slowly gaining weight; by January this year I’d gained 10lb. I put it down to my late-night snacking and lack of exercise.

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More than a third of prenatal reports to NSW protective services not investigated, ombudsman finds

Other families have been unlawfully compelled to be case-managed without consent, watchdog finds

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More than a third of all reports raising concerns about the future welfare of unborn children were closed due to a shortage of allocated caseworkers, while families were unlawfully compelled to take part in prenatal case work, the New South Wales ombudsman has found.

In its findings after investigating the Department of Communities and Justice’s practice of responding to prenatal reports, which were released on Friday, the watchdog raised concerns about the number of reports about particularly high-risk children that were not referred on to further support services or a dedicated case manager due to a lack of resources.

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Judge tells jury in Lindsay Clancy trial to keep deliberating after deadlock

Clancy does not deny strangling her three children but says postpartum psychosis led to her actions

The judge has told the jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial to keep deliberating after it said it was unable to come to a unanimous decision in the controversial case of the mother who killed her three children.

Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse in Massachusetts, does not deny strangling her children but says postpartum psychosis led to her actions. Prosecutors argue she knew what she was doing. Clancy, 36, has pleaded not guilty by reason of lack of criminal responsibility.

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I’m giving birth as a battle rages over maternity care in Ireland. We shouldn’t have to pay to feel safe | Caelainn Hogan

An unfair two-tier system is, at last, giving way to universal state care. But private interests and highly paid doctors are resisting

There were no chandeliers in the public ward where I spent my first days as a mother, at the oldest continuously operating maternity hospital in the world. The room echoed with cries, the well-worn floor bouncing under footsteps, the windows looking out on Dublin’s city centre.

Now the Rotunda hospital, where I’m due to give birth again soon, is counting down to its 1 millionth baby. It is also at the centre of a bitter debate over plans to reform Ireland’s two-tier state healthcare system, so that those who pay to “go private” in public hospitals no longer gain an unfair advantage over those who don’t.

Caelainn Hogan is a journalist and the author of Republic of Shame: How Ireland Punished ‘Fallen Women’ and Their Children

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‘There’s no place to go’: providers see more abortions later in pregnancy as bans spread in US

Patients are showing up ‘later and sicker’ for abortion care as more US states adopt bans and significant restrictions

Providers are seeing more patients in need of abortions later in pregnancy as abortion bans and restrictions proliferate in US states, all while access to insurance falls.

Those bans and restrictions have also meant that later abortion care access has grown over the past decade in a handful of haven states and cities.

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What is postpartum psychosis, the condition central to the trial of Lindsay Clancy?

Clancy’s defense team argues she killed her three children under the condition, and should not be convicted of murder

Postpartum psychosis, a rare and severe mental health illness, is central to the trial of Lindsay Clancy, who has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. Her defense team argues that she killed her three children while experiencing the condition, which can cause hallucinations, delusions and rapid mood changes.

While the outcome of the trial may hinge on a determination of Clancy’s mental state, women who have experienced postpartum psychosis say the attention surrounding the case could help raise awareness about the need for better support, including more research and improved medical training.

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