Category: Women’s Health
Heavy periods are common. What can you do, and when should you seek help?
Around one in four women of reproductive age experience heavy periods, also known as heavy menstrual bleeding. Many women with heavy periods also experience severe period pain. If you are having heavy periods, talking with your doctor can help you choose the right treatment option for you.
More than 4 in 5 pregnancy-related deaths are preventable in the US, and mental health is the leading cause
Mental health conditions are the overall most frequent cause of pregnancy-related death. Approximately 23% of deaths are attributed to suicide, substance use disorder or are otherwise associated with a mental health condition.
Women are often told their fertility ‘falls off a cliff’ at 35, but is that right?
It’s a fact women’s fertility declines as they age. But the common description of fertility decline after age 35 as a “cliff” is more anxiety-provoking than factual.
Sexually active women 45 and under who have not been tested for syphilis since Jan. 2021 should be tested, say King County health officials
There has been a nearly 5-fold increase in syphilis in cisgender women since 2015
Post-‘Roe,’ Contraceptive Failures Carry Bigger Stakes
The failure rate for typical use of birth control pills is 7%. For every million women taking pills, 70,000 unplanned pregnancies could occur in a year. According to the most recent data available, more than 6.5 million women ages 15 to 49 use oral contraceptives, leading to about 460,000 unplanned pregnancies. Even seemingly minuscule failure rates of IUDs and birth control implants can lead to surprises.Even seemingly minuscule failure rates of IUDs and birth control implants can lead to surprises. Some 4.8 million women use IUDs or implants in the U.S., leading to as many as 5,000 to 20,000 unplanned pregnancies a year.
Endometriosis: 9 facts to know about the puzzling disease
Despite symptoms, the diagnosis often comes painfully late.
Her Child Was Stillborn at 39 Weeks. She Blames a System That Doesn’t Always Listen to Mothers.
Every year more than 20,000 pregnancies in the United States end in stillbirth, the death of an expected child at 20 weeks or more. That number has exceeded infant mortality every year for the last 10 years. It’s 15 times the number of babies who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, in 2020.
Hospital Investigated for Allegedly Denying an Emergency Abortion After Patient’s Water Broke
The case involves a woman whose water broke early in her pregnancy, but the hospital refused to let doctors perform an abortion. She eventually sought medical help outside the state.
Privacy, Stigma May Keep Workers From Using Abortion Travel Benefits
Among workers’ potential concerns are the stigma of abortion and worries that private medical information could intentionally or unintentionally leak to state authorities. Unlike health care providers and insurers,most private companies aren’t set up to handle sensitive medical information.
Study confirms link between COVID-19 vaccination and temporary increase in menstrual cycle length
On average, vaccinated people experienced an increase of less than one day in each cycle in which they were vaccinated: a .71 day increase after the first dose and a .56 day increase after the second dose. Participants who received both doses in a single cycle had a 3.91 day increase in cycle length.
When abortion at a clinic is not available, 1 in 3 pregnant people say they will do something on their own to end the pregnancy
Overall, 34% of pregnant women surveyed would definitely or probably consider doing something on their own to end their pregnancy if they couldn’t get an abortion in a clinic.
Some Abortion Bans Put Patients, Doctors at Risk in Emergencies
Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, emergency health care providers in states that ban abortion have had to make wrenching legal and ethical judgments before treating a pregnant woman whose health or life may be in peril.
‘Oh well, wine o’clock’: what midlife women told us about drinking – and why it’s so hard to stop
For many midlife women, alcohol makes life better – or at least, liveable
The US lacks adequate education around puberty and menstruation for young people – an expert on menstrual health explains
Many young people receive limited guidance about what to expect as they near menstruation. Now, with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, young people who begin to menstruate will also need to learn early on how to recognize a missed period as soon as possible.
New restrictions on abortion care will have psychological harms
Research shows most women who have an abortion feel they made the right decision. Over 95% of women in a 2020 study reported that abortion was the right decision when looking back over five years