This week in women’s health: new research underscores why hormone therapy decisions matter more with age, while a nationwide estrogen shortage exposes just how unprepared the system is for the surge in menopause care. Plus, stories on pregnant women avoiding care out of fear of the Trump administration.

MORE EVIDENCE HORMONE THERAPY IS PERSONAL // A retrospective study of over 83,000 women age 50 years and up found the starting hormone therapy *after* 65 can ease menopause symptoms but comes with a higher cancer and heart risks. Dr. Stephanie Faubion, the head of the society that published the study, said the results were “limited by a lack of information” about how exactly women were getting hormone therapy (i.e. topical or oral), but that they “reinforce current recommendations for a personalized approach to hormone therapy use with regular reassessment of risks and benefits for women as they age.” In other words: talk to your doctor.

PREGNANT AND HIDING IN AMERICA // The New York Times has a video following a midwife in Minneapolis working to care for pregnant, undocumented women who are skipping prenatal care and reconsidering birth plans because ICE agents keep showing up near hospitals—making “expecting” feel more like “escaping.”

WOMEN MISSED IN AUTISM DIAGNOSES // The BMJ reports that a Swedish study of nearly 3 million people finds autism rates even out between men and women by adulthood—a sign that girls may go undiagnosed for too long. (And is it a true catch-up effect or diagnostic blind spot?).

ESTROGEN SHORTAGE FOR REAL // The growing adoption of hormone therapy for menopause (in part thanks to the FDA recently dropping a “black box” label) has led to nationwide shortage of estrogen patches. That means patients and pharmacies scrambling as it takes time to ramp up manufacturing. (And discontinued brands aren’t helping.)

MENOPAUSE UNICORN AMONG US // Virtual clinic Midi Health raised $100 million in funding, putting its value at over $1 billion — “unicorn” status that has been rare for women’s health companies. The company says their platform offers everything from menopause care to mammograms and provides care to 25,000 patients per week. The new infusion of cash will go towards “growth and investments in its tech platform to build a scalable system.”

Welcome to your women’s health news update. Tonight, we’ve got menopause myths (always a hit!), a not shocking finding on increased postpartum depression, and more.

CUTTING BACK PAP SMEARS // Researchers from Harvard and the National Cancer Institute used computer modeling to estimate that women already vaccinated against HPV might only need cervical cancer screening a couple of times in their lives without losing health benefits. In other words, current guidelines may be a bit overzealous. (Now as for getting everyone vaccinated…)

MENOPAUSE MYTHS // National Geographic takes on common menopause myths (#1? That everyone experiences the same symptoms.) In general, though, they report that doctors want women to ditch pricey hormone tests, shady supplements, and “natural” hype in favor of real evidence (though still needs to be studied!) and safe hormone therapy.

RESEARCH POST TRUMP NIH CUTS// Several outlets teamed up to show how one lab is like a microcosm of how Trump’s NIH cuts hurt research down the road. They looked at a breast cancer lab at Harvard that lost a third of its staff after funding was frozen, and found a director who now spends half her time looking for more funding, slowed research progress, and a missing generation of up-and-coming cancer researchers.

NO ABORTION ACCESS? MORE POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION // Researchers looked at data from over 100,000 women before the Supreme Court allowed states to ban abortion, and over 60,000 after the Dobbs decision. They found that states with abortion bans saw a sharp rise (9%) in postpartum depression (PPD) among women in low-income communities. In other words, women who didn’t have the option to get an abortion in their home state faced greater odds of PPD.

DATA BEHIND DOULAS // Maven Clinic reports that Black women who used their platform to meet with a doula twice had a 56% lower risk of C-section, and members who chose a preferred language besides English and used the platform had reduced NICU stays. They announced the findings along with the launch of a “Clinical Research Institute” to have researchers dive deeper into their platform data.

Hear are the trends we spotted this week in women’s health, and as always, scroll for the top clicked stories.

• 🫀 Postpartum and midlife care gaps showed up in the data. New research and editorials flagged specific misses: postpartum blood pressure often isn’t checked after delivery despite guidelines, menopause-related changes to the brain are just getting noticed, and (not shocking but) most Medicaid coverage excludes common postpartum supports like lactation care.
  

• 🧬 Research is sharpening what does and doesn’t drive women’s health risk. Large studies this week added clarity: confirming no link between COVID vaccination and fertility issues, while showing that diseases like diabetes and cancer can follow different biological pathways in women and men, with implications for how prevention and treatment are designed.
  

• 💄 Demand for solutions is outpacing evidence and policy. The beauty industry continues to grow, (faux?) pre-pregnancy wellness trends are gaining traction online, and yet major scientific funding remains flat and coverage gaps persist—highlighting a familiar imbalance between what women are sold, what’s proven, and what’s actually supported.

TOP CLICKED STORIES THIS WEEK

• Menopause linked to changes in the brain’s gray matter // Scientific American
  

• Postpartum blood pressure and long-term heart risk // Hypertension (AHA)
  

• International differences exist in knowledge gaps and most common perimenopause symptoms // Menopause Society
  

• The idea of “trimester zero” in pregnancy // The Cut
  

• Why the beauty industry is booming // The Economist
  

• Arizona expands Medicaid coverage for lactation care // Axios

Below are the top women’s health stories for the rest of this week: big data that COVID vaccines don’t affect fertility and more evidence that postpartum care gaps and sex-blind research still put women at risk.

POSTPARTUM HEART CHECKS NEEDED // An editorial in an American Heart Association journal says the postpartum period is a prime but often missed chance to check new mothers for heart disease risks, especially if they had pregnancy-related high blood pressure. One study found nearly 40% of women did not have their blood pressure checked in the months after delivery, despite recommendations.

MOLECULAR MATTERS BY SEX // A research team in Spain analyzed data from nearly 9,000 patients and found that diseases tend to show up in different molecular patterns in women and men, thanks to sex differences long ignored in research. For example, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers are linked through different biological pathways in women versus men, meaning a treatment or prevention strategy that works for one sex may be less effective (or miss risk entirely!) in the other.

PERIMENOPAUSE AROUND THE WORLD // The Menopause Society reports that a global study of more than 17,000 Flo app users found that while most women associated hot flashes with perimenopause, they most commonly experience exhaustion, irritability, and mood dips. TLDR: The world still needs better perimenopause education.

COVID VACCINE DOESNT HURT FERTILITY // A Swedish study of nearly 60,000 women found no link between COVID-19 vaccination and fertility problems. When researchers looked at childbirth and miscarriage rates, they found no statistically significant difference between women who did get vaccinated and those who did not.

LACTATION CONSULTANTS + MEDICAID // A bipartisan group of Arizona legislators are backing bills that would require the state Medicaid program cover lactation support (i.e. help with breastfeeding). About half of all births in Arizona are paid for by Medicaid, meaning thousands of new mothers currently miss out on lactation care that private insurers have covered for years.

Here are the details on the top women’s health news so far this week: Before it hits your feed — expect to see plenty of talk about how menopause might reduce your brain size. (Does it matter? More research needed.) Plus, how Medicaid cuts affect more than just pregnant women, and more below.

POSTMENOPAUSAL? LESS GRAY MATTER // A U.K. brain‑scan study found postmenopausal women had less gray matter in the memory and emotion areas of their brains. On top of that, hormone replacement therapy didn’t reverse that, as the scientists who conducted the study hypothesized. Why does this matter? It hints at how menopause might shape brain aging and mental health.

MEDICAID = FEWER BREAST CANCER DEATHS // The massive Trump Medicaid cuts coming this year won’t just affect postpartum women. A study in JAMA Network Open found fewer women ages 40-64 died of breast cancer in states with expanded Medicaid — especially those with cancer that had already spread.

BILLIONS IN RESEARCH STILL FROZEN // Nature has an excellent visualization of just how much scientific research was frozen or cut by the Trump administration in 2025. It doesn’t pull out women’s health specifically, but reports that about $1.4 billion in funding is still stuck in limbo, as legal challenges to the cuts work their way through courts.

BEAUTY INDUSTRY BOOMING // The Economist reports that despite global polling that shows people aren’t feeling great about the price of goods, the beauty industry is still thriving. Some reasons include increasingly younger customers and the explosion of non-surgical procedures like Botox.

TRIMESTER ZERO (INFO) // The newest wellness influencer trend has arrived: “trimester zero”, aka a pre-pregnancy regime of detoxes, liver snacks, and blue-light blockers pushed to help women conceive more easily. As usual the claims outweigh the evidence, but one doctor made the point that the typical advice to “just start trying” also isn’t giving women enough.

Hear are the trends we spotted this week in women’s health, and as always, scroll for the top clicked stories.

🧠 The science pushback keeps coming. High-quality research keeps challenging pregnancy scare narratives — from The Lancet finding no link between Tylenol and autism or ADHD to JAMA showing childbirth is far riskier than abortion.

⚠️ Abortion bans continue colliding with medical reality. ProPublica reminds us that abortion bans are still killing women. And they are most dangerous for those with chronic conditions and high-risk pregnancies, effectively trapping them in life-threatening situations while doctors hesitate.

💰 Women’s health is an economic force. Between McKinsey’s trillion-dollar estimate and Davos data showing women receive just 6% of global health investment, the message is that women’s health isn’t niche: it’s massively underfunded, system-wide, and expensive to ignore.

TOP CLICKED STORIES THIS WEEK

Pregnancy- and abortion-related mortality in the US, 2018–2021 // JAMA Network Open

Beyond the Trillion-Dollar Headline: The New Era of Women’s Health // McKinsey & Company

As a veteran doctor treating pregnant women, she built a center called “House of Women” // The New York Times

Postpartum Psychosis and the DSM: What’s at Stake // The New York Times

Everything to Know About the Comics Behind Ryan Murphy’s The Beauty // Time

High-Risk Pregnancies, Chronic Conditions, and Abortion Bans // ProPublica

Tonight, we’ve got deadly new stats on pregnancy post-abortion bans, a (legit) TikTok tip on nurse staffing during labor and delivery, and a thriller centered on a “beauty virus” that eventually kills. As always, scroll to see each story.

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Make It Your Habit

PREGNANCY GETS DEADLIER // JAMA researchers found that childbirth in the U.S. was 44 to nearly 70 times deadlier than abortion from 2018 to 2021, tripling previous estimates. The finding shows how dangerous it is to force people to stay pregnant, especially when they already have health risks.

NURSE STAFFING GOES VIRAL // This is a nice case of a TikTok influencer spreading research in an area of expertise: Today reports that labor and delivery nurse Jen Hamilton, who has 4.5 million followers on TikTok, had a video go viral advising expectant parents to ask hospitals if they follow safe staffing standards. Her message? If a nurse has more than two laboring patients at once, that’s a red flag.

HOUSE OF WOMEN HAS IT ALL // The New York Times has an inspiring profile of French doctor Ghada Hatem-Gantzer, an OBGYN who saw that her patients needed more than immediate medical care, especially victims of violence. So, she opened the House of Women, a one-stop center outside of Paris that has medical, legal, and social services under one roof. Several more have opened throughout France, and more are planned.

VOTING ON ABORTION (AGAIN) // State Court Report has a good round-up of all the abortion votes that will be coming at the state level in 2026. On one hand are states like Nevada, Virginia, and Idaho, which will have measures to further protect or exapnd access to abortions. On the other, of course, are states like Missouri, which will vote on undoing a 2024 amendment that protected abortion access.

WHEN BEAUTY KILLS (IN FICTION) // Ryan Murphy is out with a new thriller that’s all about beauty and the lengths humanity will go to get it. In this case, there’s a bizarre “sexy virus” that immediately turns a person into a specimen of physical perfection. The problem, of course, is that that the virus eventually makes you die a few years later. Do you still want it?

In today’s edition: women’s health goes to Davos, the nitty-gritty on why postpartum psychosis isn’t quite defined yet, which women are most likely to die from abortion bans, and more below.

One Habit You’ll Keep

By this time of the year, most New Year goals are already slipping. That’s why the habits that last are the simple ones.

AG1 Next Gen is a clinically studied daily health drink that supports gut health, helps fill common nutrient gaps, and supports steady energy.

With just one scoop mixed into cold water, AG1 replaces a multivitamin, probiotics, and more, making it one of the easiest upgrades you can make this year.

Start your mornings with AG1 and get 3 FREE AG1 Travel Packs, 3 FREE AGZ Travel Packs, and FREE Vitamin D3+K2 in your Welcome Kit with your first subscription.

Make It Your Habit

UNNECESSARY PREGNANCY SCARE // The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal, reports that a review of 43 studies found no evidence that using Tylenol in pregnancy causes autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. They looked at sibling comparisons specifically (among other rigorous studies) and found it could be pain, fever, genetic disposition, or many other causes that led to the mild associations, not the pills themselves.

JUST 44% POINTS AWAY FROM EQUALITY // Davos is happening (an annual gathering of business, tech, government elite in Switzerland) and the World Economic Forum is technically in charge of the event. So, it means something that they released a report, along with consulting firm BCG, on how women make up nearly half the planet but attract only about 6% of global health investment. (In other words: elites pay attention and spend more money on women’s health research!)

POSTPARTUM PSYCHOSIS // A deep dive from the New York Times on postpartum psychosis and whether it deserves its own slot in psychiatry’s rule book, known as the D.S.M. This seems like it should be obvious, and a group of women’s health experts have been fighting for it for more than five years. Why hasn’t it made it? It’s complicated.

ABORTION BANS KILL WOMEN ALREADY AT RISK // ProPublica reports that the women most likely to die from abortion bans are those who are already have chronic conditions that make their pregnancy high risk. The bans essentially trap them life‑threatening pregnancies, while doctors hesitate to act until it’s too late.

BLOOD TEST FOR CANCER TREATMENT? // The London’s Institute of Cancer Research found in a small test that a blood test measuring microscopic levels of cancer DNA helped spot, within weeks, whether a breast cancer treatment is actually doing its job. With more research it’s something that could save patients time, side effects, and false hope.

A COOL $1 TRILLION // McKinsey follows up on the JPM Health Conference, breaking down how actually focusing on women’s health could add $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040. TLDR: women’s health isn’t a niche, it’s a massive market.

Today we’ve got $100 billion in women’s health money in the bank, diabetes and menopause, and, of course, the whale ovaries (plus more!). Have a great weekend and we’ll see you Sunday with our weekly wrap-up.

MENOPAUSE + AGING // TIME has a great deep dive into the role ovaries play in longevity. The piece opens with a hunt for whale ovaries and ultimately explains how human ovaries are “like conductors in an orchestra. They’re coordinating things like bone health, heart health, and metabolism.” It’s an excellent overview of all the scientists and founders working to unlock the secrets of one of the most overlooked organs in the human body.

MORE OVARIES // The Washington Post also has a long piece on scientists working to crack the code on why women’s eggs go downhill with age. One theory? Chromosomes start misbehaving more often. The research could open the door to better fertility treatments.

MENOPAUSE // The Menopause Society reports that data from nearly 147,000 women found that when diabetes hits after menopause, it’s more about lifestyle than the timing of menopause itself. TLDR: It’s not the age you hit menopause, but more about diet and exercise choices. (Postmenopausal women are at a higher risk for diabetes).

MONEY MAKES … // Society for Women’s Health Research CEO Kathryn Schubert breaks down how women’s health made a splash in at JPM Health (a big annual conference on all things healthcare.) She also highlights three reports (Springboard Enterprises Accenture State of Women's Health Report (Part 2), the 2026 Women's Health Access Matters Investment Report, and AOA Dx's Follow the Exit) that capture the magnitude of the problem, and the potential solutions.

… THE (WOMEN’S HEALTH) WORLD GO ROUND // CBS reports that women’s health startups have built a $100 billion track record since 2000, according to data shared at the JPM Health conference. Now it’s on to the next $100 billion…at a much faster pace.

I just published my 2026 predictions focused on what’s happening in Washington and how it will shape women’s health next year. (These are some of the issues that matter most in my mind, even if they don’t always get the coverage they deserve!)

This isn’t a recap of 2025, but a look ahead at the policy choices already in motion. Here’s a preview:

• Cuts that won’t show up in the data until moms start dying

• The government funding that dwarfs private donations? It’s likely going down

• FDA delay: pausing the public fight, not the plan

Please read, share and comment! I’d love to know what you think, and we’ll see how well my prognostications turn out to be. And now, on to the other top women’s health news this week.

EVERYTHING // The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists officially ditched federal funding. Why? So it can keep fighting researching ways to reduce maternal deaths and health inequities without political strings attached.

ABORTION ACCESS // A Johns Hopkins analysis of 12 years of FDA records found the agency always followed its scientists’ evidence-based advice on the abortion pill…except under the first Trump administration during COVID. That’s when FDA leadership ignored scientists who said telehealth prescriptions were safe.

BEAUTY // The Consumer Electronics Show 2026 was overrun by AI-driven gadgets promising smarter skin care and prettier faces, as beauty giants teamed up with tech heavyweights like Samsung and MIT to prove that data is the new face cream.

CONTRACEPTION // Theres a self-injectable birth control shot that lasts for three‑months, and it’s existed for years. But most doctors don’t offer it—especially in abortion ban states. Researchers say docs need more education.

WEIGHT LOSS + METABOLISM // Scientific American reports on a study that found people who quit weight-loss drugs like Wegovy tend to gain back the pounds and lose heart-health perks within about two years. They also regain the weight roughly four times faster than folks who drop diet or exercise plans.