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PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Fighting High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy
What: KFF Health News digs into high blood pressure during pregnancy, of which cases “have roughly doubled since 2007. Researchers say the jump in cases is likely due in part to more testing that discovers the conditions. But that’s not the whole story. Data shows that the overall maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is also climbing, with high blood pressure one of the leading causes.”
Why it matters: Researchers are trying to understand why some women might develop pre-eclampsia when they don’t have other markers for the condition. But “Wanda Nicholson, chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts in disease prevention, said steady monitoring is needed during and after a pregnancy to truly protect patients. Blood pressure ‘can change in a matter of days, or in a 24-hour period,’ Nicholson said.”
Source: KFF Health News
BIRTH CONTROL
Why Do We Know So Little About IUDs?
What: Slate’s “Well, Now” podcast dedicates an episode to the IUD, the very effective but sometimes troublesome (and painful) birth control device. The CDC recently issued recommendations for doctors to offer pain treatment when IUDs are inserted or removed, after women kept sharing their experiences on platforms like TikTok.
Why it matters: “If there was more research into how different bodies react to IUDs, there’s a chance patients can get the care they need without as drastic of side effects. On this week’s episode of Well, Now Maya and Kavita talk with Dr. Kavita Nanda, the Director of Medical Research for FHI360, on why there is so little research into IUDs, what we do know about them, and how you or a loved one can prepare for a conversation with your doctor about them.”
Source: Slate
ABORTION ACCESS
Abortion Funds Struggling to Keep Up with Travel Costs, Demands
What: Groups that help cover the cost of abortions and the travel required to leave abortion ban states say they are limiting expenditures “as travel costs rise and the wave of ‘rage giving’ that fueled them two years ago has subsided.”
Why it matters: “Cobalt, for instance, spent $206,000 in 2021. Of that, only about $6,000 was for travel costs — and much of that came in the form of gas cards to help people in outlying parts of Colorado get to clinics. This year, the group expects to spend $2.2 million — 10 times as much as in 2021. In the first six months of this year, it spent more than $600,000 on travel and other logistical costs. Now they’re booking hotel rooms and flights — mostly on short notice. ‘We’re a travel agency as much as we’re an abortion fund,’ Middleton said.”
Source: AP via ABC News
The Abortions That Don’t Get Sympathy Still Matter for Freedom
What: Writer Sarah Elaine Harrison has an essay in the New York Times about the two abortions she’s had in her life – one that elicits sympathy due to a fetal anomaly, the other, distaste or derision for a choice of timing.
Why it matters: “My two abortions were a decade apart and different in so many ways. But my choice to have them hinged on the same innate desire to exercise the freedom to determine my future. Both allowed me to care for my children, protect my health and pursue my career in the ways I determined were best. … As I watch the outpouring of public empathy for women who have had certain types of abortions, I wish the American public would recognize the humanity in all women who terminate a pregnancy.”
Source: New York Times
CARDIOVASCULAR
Global Funders Dedicate $10 Million to Women’s Heart Research
What: The American Heart Association, along with other global funders, announced a $10 million grant over 5 years “to study and identify solutions to unmet clinical needs within women’s cardiovascular health,” including risk factors across different age groups and the sex-specific mechanisms of cardiovascular disease in women.
Why it matters: “This first-of-its-kind research funding opportunity will support a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary research network to bring together experts from around the world. The chosen research team will work collaboratively to deliver impacts in women’s cardiovascular health that no single continent, country or institution could achieve on its own.”
Source: American Heart Association
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