السبت، 16 نوفمبر 2024

They were best mates. Then one had a baby, while the other struggled. Two brutally honest takes on what happens when motherhood affects friendship

They both had something the other wanted. Could their relationship survive?

The night I first met Lexy, I was supposed to be going on a date. I was 25 and had yet to really make friends since moving to London, so when she asked me for a drink I said yes. The Guardian tended to hire only one young reporter a year in those days, and Lexy was the fresh face for 2006 (I was 2004 – it had been a rather lonely first two years).

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/USN9zd4

الخميس، 14 نوفمبر 2024

Premature birth rates in US remain at historic high, report finds

Rate in 2023 remains at 10.4% due to chronic conditions, inadequate prenatal care and racial disparities

Premature birth rates in the US remain at a historic high, according to a new report.

On Thursday, March of Dimes, a maternal health nonprofit organization, released its latest findings which say that the national premature birth rate of 2023 remains at 10.4%, largely due to chronic conditions, inadequate prenatal care and racial disparities. In contrast, the premature birth rate 10 years ago was at 9.6%.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/1ARyn8f

الأربعاء، 13 نوفمبر 2024

Jessica has private health insurance – but she will have to drive 150km to the Gold Coast to have her baby delivered privately

Australian women increasingly facing limited choices as private hospitals close maternity wards, obstetricians and gynaecologists warn

Despite paying for private health insurance for the last four years, Jessica* has no idea who will deliver her baby.

The first-time mother felt assured by the policy’s promise of continuity of care and comforted that the doctor who saw her at the beginning of her pregnancy would be there to deliver her baby when her January due date arrived.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/t1m3uex

‘It was my first pregnancy so I didn’t know what was normal’ – This is climate breakdown

I’d been taking care of myself and the baby. Then the heat came. This is Mariama’s story

Location Burkina Faso

Disaster Heatwave, 2024

Mariama, not her real name, is a Burkinabé musician who lives in Ouagadougou. During the heatwaves earlier this year she went into early labour, and lost her baby.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/N8dDIkY

السبت، 9 نوفمبر 2024

Ahlia says her GP ‘laughed in her face’ when she asked for a water birth – and that weight stigma in pregnancy has to stop

Australian researchers propose a new model to reduce ‘mum shaming’ over body size, which has negative health outcomes for mother and child

When Ahlia* was waiting to check in for a routine pregnancy appointment, she says a receptionist walked by calling out directions to gestational diabetes education – then looked at her, waiting for Ahlia to follow.

“I’m not here for that,” Ahlia recalls saying in front of the waiting room full of people.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/fkrXoIA

السبت، 2 نوفمبر 2024

When Trump says he’s going to ‘protect’ women, he means ‘control’ them | Arwa Mahdawi

Rights we have taken for granted can, as we saw with the overturning of Roe v Wade, be suddenly yanked away

“Hello, I’d like a line of credit, please.”

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/iSv5lnk

الاثنين، 28 أكتوبر 2024

Miscarriages due to climate crisis a ‘blind spot’ in action plans – report

The harm to babies and mothers is one of the warnings being sent to Cop29 decision-makers by leading scientists

Miscarriages, premature babies and harm to mothers caused by the climate crisis are a “blind spot” in action plans, according to a report aimed at the decision-makers who will attend the Cop29 summit in November.

Potential collapse of the Amazon rainforest, vital Atlantic Ocean currents and essential infrastructure in cities are also among the dangers cited by an international group of 80 leading scientists from 45 countries. The report collects the latest insights from physical and social science to inform the negotiations at the UN climate summit in Azerbaijan.

Continue reading...

from Pregnancy | The Guardian https://ift.tt/NgELCYd