Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced that Donna Ockenden would lead an independent investigation into maternity care at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust, emphasizing the need for transparency and family involvement.
The heel prick test will now be accompanied by testing for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare muscle-wasting condition that can potentially lead to a child's death by the age of two.
Since 1985, every time the U.S. elects a Republican president, global maternal mortality increases by about 10.5%, or about 44.7 additional deaths per 100,000 live births. This erodes roughly one-fifth of the average worldwide decline in maternal mortality achieved since 1985.
Since the first IVF baby was born in 1978, technological advancement of reproductive medicine has enabled millions to have children, marking a significant milestone in medical history.
Economists from King's College London (KCL) and Stanford University in America looked at parents' participation in the workforce in the US between 2023 and 2025, including the proportion who worked from home at least one day per week. They analysed the impact of this compared with those who did not work remotely.
If you're over 40 and experiencing cognitive issues, you might be wondering, "Does menopause cause forgetfulness?" Some surprising statistics give us deeper insight: 31% of premenopausal women experience forgetfulness; that number jumps to 44% in early perimenopause, and stays around 41% in late menopause and postmenopause. This transition can bring a variety of unexpected changes, especially relating to brain function-but don't fret. In this article, we'll discuss why menopause "brain fog" happens, and what you can do about it.
While noting women 'were treated with kindness and compassion', a 'requires improvement' rating was given. Inspectors said hospital management 'did not always support staff well-being' and 'were not always visible within the service and were sometimes perceived as unsupportive'. Staff reported they were confident to report incidents, however, were not always assured action would be taken.
We'd been working together for years to make my medication regimen-treatment for schizoaffective disorder-safe for potential pregnancy. Under her care, I was tapering off an antidepressant known to cause respiratory distress and hypertension in a newborn. I'd been experiencing wild mood swings, even suicidal thoughts. My beloved doctor's eyes were sad. "I'm saying no to a pregnancy, Meg." Even in the moment, I understood her priority as a physician was to keep me safe. Still, part of me hated her.
I attended A&E multiple times complaining of pain, tachycardia (increased heart rate), sickness - I couldn't keep anything down... but they didn't listen. Angel-Kay Mason fell pregnant with her daughter in June 2022 aged 19. Due to a family history of complex pregnancies, she says she was deemed to be high-risk but says she was not referred to a consultant and did not receive any extra scans.
The soft, flexible, robotic probe could dramatically improve safety during fetal surgeries, procedures in which physicians operate on a fetus before birth. Currently, doctors primarily rely on intermittent measurements of fetal heart rate using ultrasound imaging from outside the pregnant person's body. The new device, on the other hand, can be gently inserted through the same narrow port already used in fetal surgeries.
At 48, the Los Angeles-based celebrity OB-GYN of clients like the Kardashians and Rihanna went in for a routine mammogram. The doctor spotted and ordered a biopsy of a lesion of atypical cells in her left breast that could become cancerous over time. Aliabadi was told that everything was fine and to come back in six months.
U.S. births fell a little in 2025, according to newly posted provisional data. Slightly over 3.6 million births have been reported through birth certificates, or about 24,000 fewer than in 2024. The decline seems to confirm predictions by some experts, who doubted a 22,250-birth increase in 2024 marked the start of an upward trend. The posted numbers account for nearly all of the babies born in 2025, according to the CDC.
Then, in November 2025, our international shame. The Pan American Health Organization revoked Canada's measles elimination status, following more than a year of sustained transmission of the same strain. We'd eliminated the virus in 1998 and held onto the status for twenty-seven years owing to a safe and effective vaccine, but as vaccine hesitancy grew and vaccination rates dropped, susceptibility to this once-vanquished disease skyrocketed.
