October 9, 2026

Tonight: the abortion pill review that won't land until after the midterms (of course), the doctors' group that put estrogen first, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

THE ABORTION PILL REVIEW LANDS AFTER THE MIDTERMS

Under pressure from abortion opponents, the FDA is revisiting mifepristone’s safety, despite decades of evidence that the drug is safe and effective. The agency won’t finish the review until March, it told a federal judge Wednesday. (Convenient timing for the midterm elections.) Its own ongoing monitoring has identified no new safety concerns. The review will compare side effects among roughly 100,000 women who took the pill with those of patients who had surgical abortions through 10 weeks. It could lead the agency to reinstate an in-person dispensing requirement, threatening telehealth access that has helped patients in abortion ban states get the medication since Roe fell.

THE INTERNISTS SAY: ESTROGEN FIRST

The American College of Physicians, the country's largest medical specialty group, now recommends estrogen as the first treatment for hot flashes and night sweats, both in perimenopause and after menopause. Women who still have a uterus would take it with a progestogen. For women who can't take or tolerate estrogen, the group suggests the antidepressants venlafaxine or desvenlafaxine next. After those come SSRIs, gabapentin, and the hormone-free drugs fezolinetant and elinzanetant. The group also urged doctors to ask about symptoms, since many women won't bring them up.

FREE BIRTH CONTROL, $2,097 A YEAR

Insurers are still charging women for birth control the Affordable Care Act guarantees at no cost, according to a report from the National Women's Law Center. It draws on more than 8,500 requests to the group's CoverHer hotline since 2013. Plans are excluding whole categories of contraception and refusing to cover related care, like office visits and anesthesia for sterilization. They're also making women "try and fail" other methods first, which the group calls unlawful. Callers who were denied coverage from 2022 to 2025 reported paying an average of about $2,100 a year out of pocket. Since Dobbs, more women are seeking permanent birth control: by 2025, 55% of hotline requests involved coverage for removal of both fallopian tubes.

YOUR MAMMOGRAM, NOW WITH A HEART CHECK (IN MARYLAND)

Since Oct. 1, Maryland mammography centers must tell patients in their results letter if the scan showed calcium deposits in the breast arteries. Those deposits are linked to higher risk of heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. The Washington Post reports Maryland is the first state to require the notice. Heart disease is women's No. 1 killer, yet many women are more likely to get a mammogram than a heart screening. No trial has yet shown that acting on the finding prevents heart problems.

WHO GETS IVF? FOLLOW THE MONEY.

About 15% of women ages 18 to 49 say they or a partner have needed fertility care, according to a survey of around 3,500 women by KFF. A quarter of them didn't get the care they needed, most often because of cost. Among women who needed help, 17% of those with higher incomes got IVF, compared with 3% of those with low incomes. No federal law requires fertility coverage, Medicaid rarely pays for it, and only about a quarter of large employers that offer health benefits cover IVF.

October 7, 2026

Tonight: high blood pressure disorders in pregnancy jump 74%, an A.I. breast cancer risk test goes nationwide for $249, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

DOCTORS TAKE THE ABORTION FIGHT BEYOND THE EXAM ROOM

Doctors have stepped deeper into abortion politics since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, Politico reports. Physicians have led ballot measure campaigns in Ohio and nearly a dozen other states, sued over abortion bans in Idaho, Tennessee, and Texas, and run for office. Anti-abortion doctors have organized too. The two camps now face off over November ballot measures in Virginia, Idaho, Nevada, and Missouri.

YOUR AI MAMMOGRAM, READ FOR $249.

Women across the U.S. can now pay $249 for an A.I. estimate of their five-year breast cancer risk using a mammogram they’ve already had, the New York Times reports. The FDA-authorized tool, Clairity Breast, looks for subtle patterns in compatible screening mammograms from the past year. It could help doctors identify women who would benefit from closer screening or preventive medication, even without a family history. Everlywell sells it; insurance doesn’t cover it. Experts caution that low scores could encourage women to skip screening, while high scores could trigger unnecessary biopsies. Researchers haven’t yet shown that using the test saves lives.

YOUR EMPLOYER MAY ALREADY PAY FOR MENOPAUSE SUPPORT

Only about 10% of employees say their employer offers support specifically for menopause, according to a survey of 1,110 U.S. workers by the Society for Women’s Health Research and The Fuchsia Tent. But many report general benefits that the researchers say could help: 62% have prescription coverage, 55% have flexible scheduling, and 51% have telehealth. The authors urge employers to explain how workers can use those benefits for menopause care. Women most often said they would use flexible scheduling and menopause prescription coverage. One in three women who reported or suspected symptoms has considered leaving her job or cutting her hours.

STUDY: PREGNANCY BLOOD PRESSURE DISORDERS ARE UP 74%

Rates of high blood pressure disorders during pregnancy rose 74% between 2016 and 2024, from about 63 to 109 per 1,000 live births, according to an analysis of more than 33 million U.S. births. Rates rose across every racial and ethnic group. By 2024, American Indian and Alaska Native mothers had the highest rate, at about 144 per 1,000, followed by Black mothers, at about 133.

PATIENT NAVIGATORS HELPED CLOSE THE POSTPARTUM GAP

Patient navigators helped low-income mothers get postpartum care at a Chicago hospital, according to a randomized trial of 405 patients. They helped mothers overcome barriers like transportation, childcare, and scheduling. With navigator support, 96% attended a postpartum visit, compared with 80% who received usual care. More mothers also received depression screening, connections to care when needed, and guidance about mental health. By about a year postpartum, 57% had attended a primary care visit, versus 30%.

October 4, 2026

Here are the most interesting this we saw in women’s healthcare this week:

🔬 SCIENCE DEDICATED AN ENTIRE ISSUE TO WHY WOMEN'S PAIN IS DIFFERENT — AND WHY IT'S TAKEN THIS LONG TO STUDY IT. A review in special issue of Science examines how hormones, immune responses, and the body's own pain-control systems drive women's higher burden of chronic pain conditions — and credits a 2016 NIH policy requiring researchers to account for biological sex with finally moving the field past documentation toward explanation.

🏛️ TEXAS SAID IT PROTECTS LIFE. TIERRA WALKER'S FAMILY IS TESTING THAT CLAIM IN COURT. Her family is suing the state, medical authorities, and her doctors after she died from pregnancy complications. Doctors repeatedly refused to give Walker an abortion, claiming the fetus was healthy. The lawsuit turns abortion opponents' own argument back on them: if the Texas and U.S. constitutions protect a right to life, that right belongs to pregnant women too.

💉 GLP-1 USE AFTER CHILDBIRTH HAS NEARLY DOUBLED IN THE LAST SEVEN YEARS. Among commercially insured women, the share starting a GLP-1 drug within six months of giving birth rose from 0.08% in 2018 to 1.9% in early 2025. This growth is happening before researchers have solid data on what it means for breastfeeding safety (a common issue with postpartum drugs.)

TOP CLICKED THIS WEEK

• Sex-specific mechanisms of chronic pain // Science
  

• Done being silent: Pa. legislators push package to close gaps in menopause treatments // Penn Capital-Star
  

• Postpartum Initiation of GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Among Commercially Insured Women in the US // JAMA
  

• Oral menopausal hormone therapy linked to higher blood clot risk in legs or lungs regardless of dose or duration // EurekAlert
  

• Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy and Incident Dementia // JAMA Network Open
  

• In California, IVF insurance haves and have-nots // Los Angeles Times

October 1, 2026

Tonight: Tierra Walker’s family turns the “right to life” argument back on Texas, a lawmaker would like everyone to stop discussing menopause, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

TEXAS PROTECTS LIFE. JUST NOT HERS.

Tierra Walker’s family is suing Texas officials, medical authorities, and her doctors over her death after she repeatedly sought an abortion. Writing in Slate, legal historian Mary Ziegler explains the strategy: bring those defendants into the same case, where they’ll have to answer for their roles. Walker suffered seizures, a dangerous blood clot, and soaring blood pressure; her family says doctors dismissed her abortion requests because her baby was fine. Ziegler expects finger-pointing—including at Walker’s preexisting conditions. But the suit turns abortion opponents’ own argument back on them: if the Texas and U.S. constitutions protect a right to life, that includes pregnant women.

“ALL IN YOUR HEAD” IS NOT A RESEARCH STRATEGY

Science devoted a special issue to women’s health, including a review of why women bear more of the burden of many chronic pain conditions. The authors examine hormones, immune responses, and the body’s own pain-control systems. They credit a 2016 NIH policy requiring researchers to account for biological sex with helping move the field beyond documenting differences toward explaining them. The goal: answers that lead to better care and end the all-too-familiar dismissal that women’s illnesses are “all in your head.”

SORRY, SIR. WE’RE STILL TALKING ABOUT MENOPAUSE.

A male colleague told Pennsylvania state Rep. Liz Hanbidge he would support her menopause bill—then asked her to stop discussing it because “he thinks it’s gross,” she said. She kept talking. Seven proposals advanced through House committees this week, covering menopause education, insurance coverage for treatment and pelvic floor therapy, workplace accommodations, osteoporosis care, and vaginal estrogen for menopausal symptoms and UTIs. One would expand Medicaid coverage of menopause treatments. Some Republicans opposed the bills, citing concerns including costs.

FIRST COMES BABY. THEN COMES THE GLP-1.

Among commercially insured women, the share starting a GLP-1 drug within six months of giving birth rose from 0.08% in early 2018 to 1.9% in early 2025, a JAMA study found. Women with type 2 diabetes were most likely to start treatment: nearly 17% did by early 2025. In total numbers, though, women with overweight or obesity made up the largest group of new users by late 2024. Most women started at least three months after delivery. One question is what this means for breastfeeding, as safety data is limited and claims data couldn’t show who was nursing.

RARE DOESN’T MEAN MINOR

Sepsis occurred in about six of every 10,000 Mississippi hospital births from 2016 through 2025—but was linked to nearly a third of deaths during delivery stays. A JAMA Network Open study found rates were twice as high among Black mothers as white mothers, and higher among women on Medicaid than those with private insurance. More than half of women with sepsis delivered prematurely, and nearly 18% had a stillbirth. Their hospital stays averaged 10 days and about $135,000 in charges, compared with 2.5 days and $23,000 for women without sepsis.

September 29, 2026

Tonight: how hormone therapy’s clot risks differ between pills and patches, California’s IVF mandate brings more (but not all) patients into fertility clinics, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

THE PILL AND THE PATCH: SAME DRUG, DIFFERENT OUTCOMES?

Women taking oral menopausal hormone therapy had higher rates of blood clots in the legs or lungs at any dose and any duration, while transdermal patches, gels and sprays showed no general increase in clot risk. That’s according to a study reviewing around 40,000 women who had a first clot, stroke or heart attack, matched to about 200,000 women who hadn't. Increased stroke and heart attack risk was mainly found among women on high-dose oral estradiol, above 1 milligram a day, for more than a year. The absolute numbers are small: one extra clot for every 1,055 women on oral therapy for a year, one extra stroke per 1,642, one extra heart attack per 3,846.

PREECLAMPSIA AND DEMENTIA RISK, TWENTY YEARS LATER

Women who had a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, meaning preeclampsia or gestational hypertension, had a higher risk of dementia over roughly two decades of follow-up, in a nationwide cohort of around 1.4 million women. That link, however, was not statistically significant once researchers also adjusted for things like chronic high blood pressure or diabetes that developed after delivery. The authors' read is that a hypertensive pregnancy works as an early-life marker of long-term neurovascular vulnerability.

A YEAR AFTER THE C-SECTION, THE PAIN IS STILL RUNNING THEIR LIVES

Among women with chronic pain after a C-section delivery, nearly 70% said it was interfering with their mood a year after giving birth and over 50% said it was interfering with sleep, according to a review of 30 studies covering around 28,000 women across 22 countries. One large study found roughly five times higher odds of significant depressive symptoms at three and six months. Chronic postsurgical pain is estimated to affect 15% to 17% of women three to six months after a C-section, though the review's authors caution that most of the studies were observational.

CALIFORNIA MANDATED (SOME) IVF COVERAGE. BUSINESS IS UP AT CLINICS.

California's IVF mandate took effect in January, but it applies to about 9 million Californians—people working at certain companies with 100 or more employees, and state employees starting in 2027. That leaves out a large chunk of people, including small business employees, Medi-Cal enrollees, and members of the military, who face costs of about $25,000 a cycle in Los Angeles. Still, five LA-area fertility clinics told the LA Times their patient numbers are up about 20% in the nine months since the law took effect.

FORTY-EIGHT BABIES LATER, INSURANCE STILL WON'T COVER IT

Uterus transplants can allow women born without a uterus, or who have had theirs removed, to carry a pregnancy. A Penn-led review of 60 transplants performed at four U.S. centers from 2016 through 2025 documented 48 babies born, including nine women who gave birth twice. But the procedure remains complicated: more than half the babies were born prematurely. And access remains limited, in large part because it is not covered by insurance, putting it out of reach for many women who could benefit.

Here are the most interesting things we saw in women's health this week:

• 🩺 During confirmation hearings, Trump's FDA nominee twice refused to say whether an IUD is just birth control (it is) or confirm that mifepristone is safe and effective. She inherits the agency's abortion pill review with a court deadline of October 7.
  

• 💊 More than 22,000 women ages 55-69 might have lived longer if they'd been prescribed vaginal estrogen for recurring UTIs, per a USA TODAY analysis. The FDA only removed its black box warning on the drug in November 2025.
  

• 🧬 Just 25% of U.S. women say they understand their menopause treatment options. And 37% say they first learned about menopause when they started having symptoms themselves, while 40% say it negatively affected their life or work.

  ---

  TOP CLICKED STORIES THIS WEEK
  
  Exclusive: FDA warnings persisted as UTIs turned deadly in menopause // USA TODAY
  
  Lindsay Clancy case could spur legislative action on postpartum depression, psychosis // Stateline
  
  Women's Experiences Accessing Health Information Online: Trusted Sources and Contraceptive Information // KFF
  
  Many Women Enter Menopause Without Clear Information // Gallup
  
  SWHR Statement on Reported Move to Establish Review Board for NIH Grants // SWHR
  
  How abortion drug restrictions make it harder to treat other conditions // PBS NewsHour

September 24, 2026

Tonight: the FDA nominee who wouldn't say whether an IUD is birth control, the dismal numbers on menopause treatment knowledge, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

TRUMP'S FDA PICK WOULDN'T SAY WHETHER AN IUD IS BIRTH CONTROL

Heidi Overton, President Trump's nominee to run the FDA, twice declined to tell Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) whether an intrauterine device is birth control rather than an abortion, saying she would be "fully briefed" on the agency's prior decisions if confirmed. (IUDs cannot lead to abortions.) Pressed on whether she believes mifepristone is safe and effective, Overton again would not say directly, offering instead that "it has met the safety and efficacy standard according to the FDA review." Murray pointed to an article Overton published three years ago describing medication abortion as dangerous to women; Overton dodged by saying she was driven by data. If confirmed, she inherits the FDA's review of mifepristone, and the agency owes a federal court an update on its progress by October 7.

HALF OF WOMEN HAVE HEARD THAT BIRTH CONTROL HORMONES WILL HURT THEM

About 53% of reproductive-age women say they have encountered the claim that the hormones in contraceptives are harmful to their health, and 43% have heard that those hormones limit their ability to get pregnant later, according to the 2026 KFF Women's Health survey of around 3,500 women ages 18 to 49. About a third have heard that natural family planning works as well as hormonal contraception, and that Plan B causes an abortion. Neither is accurate. Among women who saw something about contraception on social media, 12% of those 18 to 25 stopped using their hormonal birth control, compared with 5% of women 36 to 49. Health care providers remain the most trusted source at 86%, while AI chatbots sit at 25%.

OVARIES: MORE THAN EGG HOLDERS?

Wired has a deep dive on the evidence that ovaries don’t retire at menopause. Instead, they continue producing hormones, and emerging research suggests their biology keeps changing for decades. Scientists found changing protein patterns in human ovaries after menopause and increased immune activity in aging mouse ovaries, raising questions about how these organs shape women’s health beyond fertility. What researchers still don’t know is whether those changes help, harm, or do both at different ages.

MANY WOMEN LEARN WHAT MENOPAUSE IS BY HAVING IT

Only 37% of U.S. women say they have a good understanding of menopause symptoms, and just 25% say the same about treatment options, according to a Gallup-Pivotal survey that included roughly 3,800 women. Among women who have experienced menopause, 37% first learned about it when they developed symptoms themselves, and 40% say it negatively affected their life or work.

IV IRON IN PREGNANCY CUT DELIVERY TRANSFUSIONS BY MORE THAN A THIRD

Pregnant women with anemia caused by low iron were 37% less likely to need a blood transfusion during their hospital stay for childbirth when treated with iron through an IV instead of pills, according to a review of 29 clinical trials involving roughly 11,800 people. IV treatment also improved their blood’s ability to carry oxygen and increased iron stores in both mothers and babies. Iron pills remain the usual first treatment in the U.S., but the authors say the findings support considering a larger role for IV iron.

September 22, 2026

Tonight: a single person could veto federal medical research grants in the future, the cheap drug prescribed to surprisingly few women, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

ONE OFFICIAL COULD VETO NIH RESEARCH GRANTS

President Trump reportedly told an administration official to create a board that would approve National Institutes of Health grants, after NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya refused his request to cut funding for Harvard researchers. Grant decisions under this scheme would require unanimous approval, which could give any Trump appointee veto power over money that is currently doled out through scientific peer review, advisory councils, and NIH leadership. The Society for Women’s Health Research warned that the proposal could shift decisions “away from scientific merit toward political priorities.”

A WARNING LABEL OUTLIVED THE SCIENCE

More than 22,000 women ages 55 to 69 might have survived if they had received vaginal estrogen for recurring UTIs, according to a USA TODAY analysis of eight years of medical records. Of the group, 1.5% of those prescribed vaginal estrogen died from any cause, compared with 7.3% of those who weren’t prescribed it. A three-month supply of generic cream can cost $13, yet only about 1 in 10 menopausal women on Medicare currently use vaginal estrogen. Why? The FDA only removed black box warnings in November 2025. The lives-saved figure is an estimate: the study found an association and cannot prove estrogen prevented those deaths.

THREE STATES PASSED POSTPARTUM MENTAL HEALTH LAWS. SEVEN DIDN’T.

Stateline reports that some experts think the Lindsay Clancy mistrial could push states to pass more postpartum mental health laws. In the past year, Maryland and Virginia governors signed laws requiring some insurers to cover postpartum depression screening, and Illinois passed a law intended to support screening during home visits. But similar bills failed in seven other states. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is seeking $2 million to expand a free postpartum nurse-visit program from 3,000 households a year to 68,000. The head of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health has a test for whether it helps: Will insurers pay for mental health care, and can new mothers get that care through one coordinated practice?

THE FIBROID DRUGS AMERICAN WOMEN CAN’T GET

Mifepristone and the emergency contraceptive ulipristal both block progesterone, and studies around the world have found they can shrink uterine fibroids by up to 50%. Physicians in China and India already prescribe them for fibroids and endometriosis, but in the United States the most common treatment for fibroids remains hysterectomy. That’s in part due to anti-abortion groups that have campaigned against mifepristone for decades and Louisiana, Texas, and Florida are now suing to restrict it. Fibroids affect 70% of white women and more than 80% of Black women by age 50, and it takes more than three years on average before a woman gets treated.

TURNS OUT YOU CAN NUMB THE UTERUS FIRST

In a randomized trial of 370 women who had never given birth, putting 10 milliliters of the local anesthetic mepivacaine into the uterus before IUD placement lowered average pain scores from 58.6 to 43.8 on a 100-point scale. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists only started recommending pain relief measures for IUD placements in May 2025. This trial points to another way to make placement easier.

September17, 2026

Tonight: the first lawsuit over a death linked to an abortion ban, what Congress actually did after its menopause hearing, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

THEY KEPT TELLING HER THE BABY WAS FINE. SHE DIED AT 20 WEEKS.

Tierra Walker’s family has filed what The 19th reports is the first lawsuit over a death linked to an abortion ban. The family alleges that Texas’s ban kept doctors from ending a pregnancy that threatened Walker’s life. She was 37 years old and 20 weeks pregnant when she died in December 2024 of preeclampsia and hypertensive cardiovascular disease. Her doctors had identified preeclampsia; one wrote that delivering the baby “may be the best treatment.” Her son found her dead on his 15th birthday. The suit specifically names state AG Ken Paxton, who is also running for the state’s Senate seat.

CONGRESS’ FIRST MENOPAUSE HEARING? TO START, GETTING MORE GOVERNMENT INFO.

At Congress’s first hearing devoted to menopause, Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rick Scott asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate how the federal government funds and coordinates menopause research and care. Lawmakers also pointed to bills already introduced on research and physician training, veterans’ care, and the health effects of perimenopausal hormone changes. Gillibrand cited an estimate that menopause costs the U.S. economy $26.6 billion a year, yet less than 1% of federal women’s health research funding goes to menopause.

21 MILLION WOMEN LIVE WHERE BIRTH CONTROL CLINICS FALL SHORT

Over 21 million women who need low- or no-cost contraception live in counties where publicly funded clinics cannot meet estimated demand, according to new maps from Power to Decide and the Guttmacher Institute. In Arizona’s Maricopa County, 29 clinics serve an area with nearly 300,000 women estimated to need affordable contraception; researchers put clinic capacity at about 8% of that need. The underlying data run through 2023, before more recent Planned Parenthood closures. The maps measure access to publicly funded clinics, so they do not capture care through telehealth or pharmacies.

WOMEN WITH THE SAME CONDITION ARE OFFERED LESS TREATMENT

Women with the same conditions as men were often less likely to receive procedures such as surgery or stents, or strong pain medication, a new review found. Researchers screened 1,112 papers and included 41 that examined differences in patient care. Of the 38 retrospective case series, 33 found a significant difference between men’s and women’s treatment; the difference remained significant in 25 of the 29 studies that adjusted for other factors. The pattern appeared across several specialties, though the review cannot establish why each treatment decision was made.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD LOST MILLIONS. NOW IT’S TREATING MENOPAUSE.

Planned Parenthood clinics around Philadelphia have added menopause hormone therapy and perimenopause care as the organization seeks new patients and revenue. Two area affiliates estimated about $3 million in losses after they were barred from billing Medicaid; that access was restored in July. Nearly a third of the 350 patients who sought menopause treatment last year at Southeastern Pennsylvania clinics were new patients. The affiliate’s CEO says appointments are typically available within a week, while menopause specialists elsewhere can have long waitlists. One Keystone affiliate clinic plans to add vasectomies next year.

Tonight: Congress finally puts menopause on the calendar, signs of maternity units closing, and more.

— Meghan McCarthy

CONGRESS HAS NEVER HELD A HEARING ON MENOPAUSE. THAT ENDS WEDNESDAY.

The Senate Special Committee on Aging holds the first congressional hearing ever on menopause tomorrow, entitled “Half the Country, Zero Hearings." Nine of the 13 members of the committee are men. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said it was "absolutely disgraceful" that the committee has never held a hearing specifically focused on menopause, and she is asking for increased research funding and physician training. More than half of states have introduced or passed menopause legislation in the past two years, but nothing has been seriously considered on the federal level beyond research funding.

THE MATERNITY UNITS STILL OPEN LOOK A LOT LIKE THE ONES THAT CLOSED

Among the US hospitals that still delivered babies in 2023, 41% had high-risk factors for losing that service, according to a study that analyzed 3,108 hospitals from 2010. Low birth volume predicted closures everywhere, but the financial picture split along rural and urban lines. Being unprofitable raised a rural hospital’s predicted risk of closing its maternity unit by 12 percentage points, while in urban areas it was more strongly tied to the entire hospital closing. For-profit ownership also carried a much larger risk of maternity-unit closure in rural communities, leading researchers to argue the two need different policy responses.

58% OF MEDICAL TEXTBOOKS DON’T REALLY COVER MENOPAUSE

A white paper from Calla Lily Clinical Care and ABIG Health makes the economic case for teaching menopause in medical school. The numbers are bleak: 58% of medical textbooks worldwide don’t adequately cover menopause, and in a study of 20 US residency programs, more than 20% of residents got no menopause training at all and just under 7% felt prepared to treat it. Menopause symptoms account for roughly $25 billion a year in direct medical costs among US women aged 45 to 60, with the cost of treating cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women on track to top $200 billion a year.

A PROVEN C-SECTION ANTIBIOTIC FINALLY CAUGHT ON. INFECTIONS DROPPED.

Doctors used the antibiotic azithromycin in just over 2% of unscheduled c-sections before a 2016 trial showed that it prevents infections. In 2024, the drug was used in nearly 60% of cases. As doctors adopted the drug, postpartum infections after c-sections fell from around 9% to 8%, even as they rose among vaginal births. Researchers analyzed around 1.7 million US deliveries from 2013 to 2024. Doctors perform more c-sections than any other surgery in the country, and the procedure poses the greatest risk for infection after childbirth. But even eight years after the trial, four in 10 unscheduled c-sections still did not include the drug.

AMERICAN DOCTORS MAKE ONE KIND OF CUT. IT'S THE ONE LINKED TO WORSE TEARING.

More than one in five of the 5,277 US women who delivered babies with forceps or a vacuum suffered a severe tear. An episiotomy, a surgical cut used to widen the vaginal opening, generally increased the odds of this injury, but the direction of the cut made a crucial difference. Midline episiotomies, which accounted for more than three quarters of those performed, raised the odds of severe tears during vacuum deliveries. Episiotomies that angle away from the anus lowered the odds for women who had never delivered vaginally, whether doctors used forceps or a vacuum. The observational study cannot prove that either cut caused the outcomes, but it points to a group that may benefit from the less commonly used approach.