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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