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PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Pregnancy Complications Jump During COVID
What: Serious pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and weight gain, increased significantly during the COVID pandemic, according to research from the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
Why it matters: “[Study author Rita] Hamad shared theories on what may have driven the increases in pregnancy complications outlined in the study, including COVID-19 infection as well as consequences of the pandemic such as stress and limited access to exercise and healthy food. She did note one positive finding: By January 2021, there was a significant drop in women receiving inadequate prenatal care, with Black and Hispanic individuals benefiting most. ‘Our hypothesis … was that there were expansions in telehealth during the beginning of the pandemic.’”
Source: Harvard Chan School of Public Health
BIRTH CONTROL
More Evidence Shows Sterilizations Increase After Abortion Bans
What: Sterilization procedures increased nearly 40% in states that banned abortion, according to a study in JAMA using insurance claims data for nearly 5 million women from January2021 to December 2022.
Why it matters: “Jacqueline Ellison, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health who has studied contraceptive use after the Dobbs decision, said the findings of these studies posed important questions about how the general population was responding to the decision. ‘To me it suggests that people are experiencing fear and anxiety around the ruling, either for their ability to get an abortion or even to access contraception in the future,’ she said.”
Source: New York Times
ABORTION ACCESS
Trump Has Been Telling Baby Execution Lies For Years
What: The New York Times dedicates a full article to Donald Trump’s consistent and outrageous lie about Democrats allowing women to “execute the baby,” pointing out how he used similar language in debates against then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Why it matters: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born. But Mr. Trump’s rhetoric has served as a politically powerful tool to galvanize his socially conservative Christian supporters who saw it as a moral call to arms. That was then. The fall of Roe v. Wade plunged the country into a visceral national conversation about abortion, miscarriage and birth. Women told their stories of facing life-threatening complications, and the emotional pain of losing wanted pregnancies. Health care providers discussed heartbreaking cases of girls being raped and impregnated. During the debate, Ms. Harris used those personal stories to try to refute Mr. Trump’s old line on new grounds: His claim was not only false but immoral.”
Source: New York Times
The Ten Minutes that Made Voters’ Choice Clear
What: Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus writes that “10 minutes on abortion changed the race between Trump and Harris” in last night’s debate.
Why it matters: “’You want to talk about this is what people wanted?’ Harris said, looking at Trump. ‘Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room because the health-care providers are afraid they might go to jail and she’s bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? She didn’t want that. Her husband didn’t want that. A 12- or 13-year-old survivor of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term? They don’t want that.’ This is the case that President Joe Biden couldn’t make, not with such clarity and force. This is the reality for women that Trump will never comprehend. This is the choice that voters face, and those 10 minutes should have made the correct answer clear.”
Source: Washington Post
MENOPAUSE
The Ovaries as ‘Powerful Architects’ of Women’s Health
What: The BBC digs in deeper to recent research that found specific genes (or lack thereof) influenced how early a woman went into menopause, including how those gene expressions might influence cancer risk.
Why it matters: “’Ovaries are powerful architects of overall health in women, not just reproductive health,’ paper author Dr Staša Stanković, part of senior author Prof John Perry’s research team, told BBC Science Focus. ‘As we learn more about mechanisms that regulate ovarian function, we not only unlock biological insights behind infertility and other reproductive disorders but shed light on shared biology that predisposes women to other conditions.’”
Source: BBC
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