The links between pollution and miscarriage: ‘This is the stuff nightmares are made of’

Journalist Isabelle Oderberg has spent years researching the links between pollution and early pregnancy loss. What she has learned keeps her up at night

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Exactly 10 years ago this year, I sat in a Melbourne auditorium, listening to a lecture about conspiracy theories. One of the key points made by the speaker was that many of the great revelations in our world were once conspiracy theories confined to the fringes of society; think round earthers v flat earthers.

That’s not to say that every conspiracy theory will be proven true. Clearly not. I don’t for a moment believe Elvis is working in a 7-Eleven in Tucson, Arizona.

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Winning the lottery sends women rushing off to the divorce court. Men stay married | Torsten Bell

Small grants give expectant families a boost, but the impact of larger sums depends a lot on the recipient’s gender

We think of our family as outside the financial world. But two new studies show that it’s not so simple.

The state provides support for those of us lucky/silly enough to have children. Child benefit starts from birth, but you’ll probably know this phase called pregnancy exists.

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US mothers face uncertainty as lone, unproven drug for preterm birth pulled

FDA granted accelerated approval for Makena in 2011 to address issue of preemies, but major study says drug doesn’t work

Makena is the only drug approved specifically to prevent premature birth, a major health issue facing children and families, in the US. In the 12 years since it was fast-tracked by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), hundreds of thousands of patients in America have received injections of Makena, which is about 5,200% more expensive than generic versions of the same medication.

There was just one problem: there’s no evidence Makena actually works.

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Conference highlights racial disparity in UK maternal healthcare

The Motherhood Group event hears that black women suffer effects of unconscious bias within system

Unconscious bias in the UK healthcare system is contributing to the stark racial disparity in maternal healthcare outcomes, a conference has heard.

The Black Maternal Health Conference UK also heard that black women not being listened to by healthcare professionals was also a contributing factor.

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US maternal mortality is more than ten times higher than in Australia. Why? | Moira Donegan

What do we make of a nation that has made giving birth so dangerous – yet forces more and more women to do it?

America is in a maternal health crisis. According to new CDC data released this week, the rate of maternal mortality – defined as deaths during pregnancy or within 42 days of giving birth – rose by 40% in 2021. At a rate of 33 deaths for every 100,000 live births, 1,205 women died of maternal causes that year. That rate was more than twice as high for Black women, whose maternal mortality rate was 70 deaths for every 100,000 live births. The latest federal compilation of data from reviews of maternal deaths suggests that 84% were preventable.

Experts believe that 2021’s spike in maternal mortality can be attributed at least partly to the Covid-19 pandemic, though it’s not clear exactly how. Perhaps infection and exposure to the virus made pregnant women more vulnerable; perhaps the pandemic caused some women to delay or forgo prenatal care as hospitals strained to treat the surge of virus patients and shutdowns made all kinds of care harder and riskier to get.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

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At long last, some recognition of the pain after childbirth. Why is women’s suffering so ignored? | Agnes Arnold-Foster

Research shows opioid painkillers are unlikely to harm breastfed babies – but history shows how often women have been expected to sacrifice their own health

New research just published in the BMJ has found that women should not be denied opioid painkillers after childbirth as the drugs are unlikely to harm breastfed babies. This is a welcome step for new parents who are all too often left to deal with painful recovery from childbirth without adequate relief.

But it also highlights a much larger problem. As an historian of women’s health, and someone who is currently pregnant and dealing with severe back pain, it is clear that pain during pregnancy, childbirth and afterwards has been, and remains, routinely dismissed and diminished.

Agnes Arnold-Forster is a writer and historian of medicine and healthcare

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SNP leadership candidates urged to commit to abortion clinic buffer zones

Concerns that Scotland lagging behind rest of UK as anti-abortion protests continue outside clinics

Pro-choice campaigners are urging all Scottish National party leadership candidates to commit to accelerating the imposition of protest-free buffer zones around abortion clinics as healthcare professionals describe the “remorseless” impact of anti-choice activity on their working lives.

Amid growing concern that Scotland is trailing behind the rest of the UK, after safe access zones passed their final parliamentary hurdle in the Commons last week, there was a protest and counter-protest outside the Sandyford clinic in Glasgow at the weekend. The clinic offers a range of services including abortion, support for sexual assault victims and transgender healthcare.

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