|
EVERYTHING
Despite Tough Market, Investors Keep Backing Women’s Health
What: A report from Silicon Valley Bank (now a subsidiary of First Citizens) finds a 314% increase in women’s health VC investment since 2018, and last year will be a “top funding year for the sector.” They also found startups that are not focused solely on reproduction are increasing, “indicating a shift in the long-held misconception that fertility and pregnancy are the sole focus of women’s health.”
Why it matters: We can hope that research and solutions follow where the money goes.
Source: Silicon Valley Bank
POSTPARTUM
Tackling That NYT Tongue Tie Article
What: Emily Oster, the author of Expecting Better, takes on the New York Times’ recent reporting on procedures to address tongue ties in infants, aka frenotomies. Oster doesn’t outright say she disagrees with the article’s premise, which she defines as “the procedure is overused by people greedy for profit.”
But she says they didn’t do a deep dive on the data, which she ultimately boils down to: There isn’t great evidence on benefits of these procedures, but there isn’t widespread evidence that its harming children, either.
Why it matters: This is another example where parents and practitioners are forced into taking sides, when it’s ultimately something that more funding for research could help resolve.
Source: ParentData
MENSTRUATION
FDA Approves First Menstrual Blood Health Test
What: The FDA approved a pad from Qvin that doubles as a way to test the blood. The pad includes a removable strip that can be sent to a lab for analysis.
Why it matters: The pad is designed to help measure blood sugar averages over three months, to aid in diabetes management.
Source: FemTech Insider
BIRTH CONTROL
The Virtuous Cycle of Women’s Health Innovation
What: Brittany Barreto explains how Kegg, a device that helps women do kegel exercises and measures cervical mucus electrolytes to predict fertility, now has enough data to study this as a potential type of nonhormonal birth control.
Why it matters: This is the virtuous cycle in action – paying attention to women’s health needs leads to potentially better/expanded options for women.
Source: Forbes
ABORTION ACCESS
More Horror Stories, This Time from Tennessee
What: More women joined a case in Tennessee challenging the state’s abortion ban, similar to a case brought in Texas. Three of the women added Monday were “denied abortions while experiencing severe pregnancy complications, forcing them to travel out of state to get the procedure.”
One woman, Rebecca Milner, found out at her 20-week appointment that her amniotic fluid was too low, and nothing could be done to save the baby. But she was still barred from getting an abortion in state. Milner traveled to Virginia for the procedure but went back home with an infection likely caused by the delay in getting her abortion.
Why it matters: These stories will continue to happen as women suffer and die due to abortion bans, and it could play a massive role in the 2024 election.
Source: AP via ABC News
Republican Officials Would Rather Women Die Than Terminate Pregnancies
What: A searing overview from Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern of Republican state officials denying women who face medical danger abortion access. I can’t say it better than they do:
“The stories of Kate Cox in Texas, devastated would-be mothers in Tennessee, and a horrifying prosecution of a mother who miscarried in Ohio all surface the brutal reality of the post-Dobbs zeitgeist: Any woman who seeks to terminate a pregnancy is wicked, any woman who miscarries is evil, and any woman who—for reasons of failing health, circumstance, or simple bad luck—does not prove to be an adequate incubator deserves whatever she gets. Every unborn fetus is the priority over the pregnant person carrying it and must be carried to term at all costs.”
Why it matters: Ditto to the above.
Source: Slate
|
