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PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Maternal Deaths Return to Pre-Covid Numbers
What: The number of women who died while pregnant or soon after birth dropped to pre-pandemic levels, according to research released by the CDC. The number of deaths increased sharply in 2021, up to 1,205, but then came back down to 817 deaths in 2022.
Why it matters: Black women still have disproportionately high death rates. As the head of University of Alabama at Birmingham OBGYN put it: “We still have a long way to go to create really meaningful prevention interventions and strategies to decrease mortality, particularly among Black women and women of color.”
Source: NBC
Digging Deep on Pregnancy Complications
What: Expecting Better author Emily Oster is out with a new book on pregnancy complications, which she says 50% of pregnant women will end up having. Her book aims to help readers understand the research that exists on common complications, like preeclampsia and perinatal depression, and how to have a productive conversation with a doctor about them.
Why it matters: As Oster puts it: “In order to feel engaged with your own care, people need to have enough information to have a thoughtful conversation with their doctor. They need to have enough scripting to understand how to use the 15 minutes they have [with them] to get the answers that are going to matter for their [future reproductive health] decisions.”
Source: NPR
ABORTION ACCESS
How Abortion Bans Change Miscarriage, Stillbirth Treatment (For Worse)
What: Kaiser Family Foundation is out with a policy brief on pregnancy loss, and how it has been changed by abortion bans since Roe fell. The brief does a great job laying out how the treatment for pregnancy loss is often the same as for elective abortion care. It also pulls together polling data on how OBGYNs say they have had to change how they treat women who are miscarrying, not for medical reasons but for fear of legal consequences.
Why it matters: The fact that the same procedures and medications cover miscarriage, stillbirth, and elective abortions isn’t a surprise to most who have been pregnant. But clearly many lawmakers missed this memo.
Source: KFF
The Women Who Raced to Florida for an Abortion
What: Florida’s six-week abortion ban went into effect this week, and USA Today goes inside one clinic to see how the swift legal change impacted the lives of women throughout the southern United States.
Why it matters: “On Tuesday, A Woman’s Choice clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, was seeing its last patients who fell outside of Florida’s strict new abortion law taking effect on Wednesday. …Some arrived from Mississippi and Louisiana. One client was a college student who had learned last week that she was pregnant, said Flynn, fueling a quick decision as she and others scrambled to get care ahead of the new law.”
Source: USA Today
MENOPAUSE
Halle Berry, Senators, and Menopause Status
What: Actress Halle Berry was on Capitol Hill Thursday, sharing her menopause status with a bipartisan group of female senators. She was also there to push for a bill—backed by the senators, too—that would put $275 million towards menopause education and research.
Why it matters: As Berry put it: “I’m in menopause, OK? The shame has to be taken out of menopause. We have to talk about this very normal part of our life that happens. Our doctors can’t even say the word to us, let alone walk us through the journey.”
Source: ABC
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