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Pregnancy
We collect a lot of women’s health news, every weekday. This is where you’ll find everything we’ve rounded up and reported on pregnancy. Want to get this news in your inbox, as soon as we find it? Sign up above.
Latest News Snippets: pregnancy
Teen Moms Have a 200+% Chance of Dying Young
A study of over 2 million teenagers in Canada found that those who carried a pregnancy to term were more than twice as likely to die before their 31st birthday, even after controlling for pre-existing health conditions and other demographics.
Maternal Mortality May Be *Much* Lower Than We Thought
The United States’ maternal mortality rate is the worst in the world among wealthy countries. But a new analysis of CDC statistics makes the case that the rate is around 10 deaths per 100,000 births—not the nearly 33 deaths per 100,000 births reported around this time last year.
Smart Ring Will Alert Pregnant Users to Sleep, Heart Rate Changes
Smart ring Oura is introducing a new pregnancy feature, which will allow wearers to track gestational age and “offer weekly updates on what physiological changes are expected,” like “unusual sleep patterns and heart rate differences.”
The Idaho OBGYN Desert Is Here
A deep dive on Idaho becoming an “OBGYN desert.” At the end of March, the third labor and delivery unit in the state will close since Roe fell.
If You’re Menstruating, You’re Always Maybe Four Weeks Pregnant (And Liable)
There is a “four week window where a person might not be pregnant yet—but according to how we measure weeks of pregnancy they already are.”
Giving Moms Medicaid Led to Healthier Babies
After passage of the Affordable Care Act, Democratic-leaning states generally chose to expand Medicaid, while Republican-leaning states did not. That set up a natural study to see how better access to healthcare affected moms with gestational diabetes and their babies.
Vanishing Twin Syndrome: ‘Shrouded in Mystery’
An essay from Eleanor Barker-White on experiencing “vanishing twin syndrome”, when one fetus is absorbed by the other in the womb.
COVID-19 Vaccine Protects Babies from Brain Troubles
A JAMA study of 200,000 babies adds more evidence to the fact that pregnant women who get the COVID-19 vaccine protect their babies from complications
Pregnancy Rewires the Entire Body
Pregnancy doesn’t just make your heart beat more or increase your blood volume – it “dramatically rewires every major organ” in the body.
Black Women Less Likely to Get Epidurals
A study in Obstetrics & Gynecology finds that Black women are “about 10 percent less likely to receive [an epidural] during labor” when compared with white women.
Becoming a Mom at 45
A lovely, thought-provoking essay from writer Laura Barton on unexpectedly becoming a mom at 45, after years of trying through miscarriages and fertility treatments.
Millions of Pregnant + Postpartum Women Could Go Hungry in America
Extreme Republicans are holding up a government funding bill and insisting a food program for women and children that has been funded for decades not get a budget increase this year, despite increasing food prices.
More Horror Stories, This Time from Tennessee
More women joined a case in Tennessee challenging the state’s abortion ban, similar to a case brought in Texas.
Stethoscope with AI Doubles Detection of Fatal Pregnancy Heart Disease in Trial
A digital stethoscope enhanced with AI helped identify twice as many cases of peripartum cardiomyopathy than traditional care.
Ohio Woman May Face Jail Time for Miscarriage
A deep dive explanation into a case in Ohio where a woman who miscarried a nonviable fetus at 21 weeks could be indicted for “abuse of a corpse.”
Original Reporting: pregnancy
The Difference Between Postpartum Depression and ‘Baby Blues’
There’s a key difference between the two common conditions.
People Who Just Had a Baby Are More Likely to Have Medical Debt — Even With Insurance
Study finds that childbirth costs are more than many can afford.
Birth Stories: Real Moms Share the Good, the Bad + Everything Else
Over a dozen real life labor stories covering everything from c-sections to forceps to epidural or no epidural deliveries.