Experts say seeking alternatives that deliver the same dose of oestrogen by the same method is key
Women in the UK are again facing shortages of some HRT products, with warnings they could persist for weeks. We take a look at the situation.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Out-of-pocket costs for abortion care to be covered regardless of who wins November election as Jess Wilson says Liberals and Nationals ‘will not allow Labor to play politics on this issue’
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Victoria will become the first state in Australia to make access to abortion care free, no matter who wins the November election, with the Coalition matching Labor’s promise just hours after it was announced as it attempts to neutralise the issue.
The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, on Thursday afternoon told Guardian Australia a Liberal National Coalition government would match Labor’s commitment to cover out-of-pocket costs for abortion care up to 16 weeks’ gestation. This would include GP and specialist consultations, scans, tests or medication, which can quickly add up to more than $1,000.
Continue reading...Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ spending cuts will be fully felt next year, but hospitals are already feeling the squeeze
Maternity wards across the United States are facing a wave of closures as cuts to federal Medicaid funding take effect, experts have warned.
According to analysis by the non-profit Protect Our Care, 52 maternity wards have closed since the HR1 bill was announced in July 2025, with a further eight having announced their upcoming closure.
Continue reading...The number of pharmacies stocking the MS-2 Step medication increased from 2,228 to 4,107 after rules relaxed in 2023
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The number of Australian pharmacies stocking an abortion pill increased by almost 50% when prescribing restrictions were relaxed, with researchers saying the findings suggest deregulation of abortion promotes safer and faster healthcare.
A study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open on Thursday examined the impact of changes by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in 2023 which meant the medication, MS-2 Step, could be prescribed by any GP.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Analysis ‘lays bare’ something midwives already know from their day-to-day work
About 20,000 disclosures of domestic abuse are estimated to be made to maternity services in England every year, analysis has found.
The figures are likely to be an underestimate of the true scale of disclosures, according to experts, highlighting the role maternity professionals play in identifying abuse.
Continue reading...Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome is underdiagnosed and inconsistenly managed, according to Nice
Up to 4 million women with irregular periods should be investigated for polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, according to new NHS guidance.
PMOS, previously known as polycystic ovarian syndrome, is believed to affect up to 13% of reproductive age women, the World Health Organization estimates.
Continue reading...Campaigners welcome announcement cutting levies on menstrual health items, but say their work to end period poverty is ‘far from over’
Pakistan plans to abolish “period tax”, in a victory for young campaigners who had taken the government to court over the charges.
Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that sanitary towels and related items were “daily necessities that are indispensable for women’s health, dignity and full participation in social activities”, and said he intended to remove the sales tax.
Continue reading...Emily Lal – paid $6,000 to provide freebirth support package to Stacey Warnecke – tells coroner her role was primarily to be a ‘supportive friend’
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A birthkeeper hired by a woman who died after giving birth at home has told a coroner that she was “not there to make a birth safer”.
Emily Lal gave evidence on Tuesday at the inquest into the death of 30-year-old Stacey Warnecke, who died on 29 September in Frankston hospital after giving birth at home with her husband and Lal present.
Continue reading...Patients in Washington and Hawaii will be able to obtain medication before pregnancy in expansion of early access
Planned Parenthood clinics in Washington and Hawaii will now offer “just in case” abortion medication, bringing wider attention to the option of receiving the pills in advance of pregnancy amid growing challenges to access.
Leaders at the organization hope their name recognition will help community members understand their options for accessing care despite federal, state and personal challenges to getting abortion care.
Continue reading...Elahere is first new drug for chemotherapy-resistant ovarian cancer to be approved by NHS for 20 years
Hundreds of women with hard-to-treat ovarian cancer can now be offered a new life-prolonging treatment, after NHS England approved its introduction. It is the first new drug for resistant ovarian cancer to be approved for more than 20 years.
Ovarian is the 18th most common type of cancer globally, affecting more than 300,000 women a year. More than three-quarters of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, making it harder to treat.
Continue reading...Obstetricians and gynaecologists say anti sex-selective abortions bill ‘predicated on misinformation’ and ‘underlying aim is to restrict access to abortion’
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The man who wants to ban “sex-selective abortions” is the first person who will tell you it won’t work.
New South Wales Libertarian party MLC John Ruddick has introduced legislation that would see health practitioners sent to prison or fined thousands if they carry out a termination because of the sex of a foetus.
Continue reading...States with abortion bans are turning away from medications to a wait-and-see approach, with care falling below standards
Abortion restrictions in the US have made it more difficult to access care for miscarriages, a new study stays.
The new research found that since the June 2022 Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning Roe v Wade, pregnancy care has fractured along state lines; it’s getting increasingly harder to access healthcare for miscarriages in US states with abortion restrictions.
Continue reading...Results suggest radiotracer maraciclatide can ‘light up’ condition on scan and reduce need for investigative surgery
A non-invasive scan for endometriosis has shown promising results in a trial, boosting hopes for far quicker diagnosis.
The trial, which included 19 women with the condition, suggests that an experimental radiotracer, called maraciclatide, can “light up” endometriosis on a scan. The current need for a surgical investigation is seen as a major obstacle to timely diagnosis, with women in England typically waiting nearly a decade.
Continue reading...Mo-Rez reduced or eliminated tumours in over 60% of patients and is expected to be a blockbuster drug
GSK has revealed positive results for a treatment for gynaecological cancers as its chief executive, Luke Miels, seeks to speed up drug development at the group.
The company said that in an early-stage trial Mocertatug Rezetecan, known as Mo-Rez, shrank or eliminated tumours in 62% of patients with ovarian cancer where chemotherapy had failed, and in 67% of those with endometrial cancer.
Continue reading...José Antonio Kast, who voted against legalising divorce in 2004, has pushed for return to total abortion ban
Women’s rights activists in Chile are bracing as the most conservative president since the Pinochet dictatorship prepares to take office on Wednesday.
José Antonio Kast, a 60-year-old ultra Catholic whose father was a member of the Nazi party, has consistently blocked progressive bids for women’s rights and equality across his three-decade career in politics.
Continue reading...Royal College of Psychiatrists says impact on mental health often overlooked and calls for improvements in care
Nearly three-quarters of UK women do not know menopause can trigger a new mental illness, polling shows.
This lack of understanding is so acute that the Royal College of Psychiatrists has launched its first targeted “position statement” to raise awareness about menopause and mental health.
Continue reading...Women from countries with near-total bans on terminations will be given help to access services elsewhere
EU states will be able to tap into a social fund to help citizens access safe abortions, in an announcement hailed as a “victory for women”.
The roots of Thursday’s announcement go back to a long campaign for the European Commission to create a funding mechanism that would allow women from countries with near-total bans on abortion, such as Malta and Poland, to go where it is legal.
Continue reading...Presenter says she is ‘in a much more positive place’ after having lumpectomy and catching cancer early
Davina McCall has revealed she has undergone surgery for breast cancer and urged others to “get checked”.
In a video posted to Instagram, the presenter said she was “very angry” when she found out about the cancer, but felt in a “much more positive place” after a lumpectomy.
Continue reading...Patients who had more cells had better outcomes, particularly for aggressive types such as triple-negative breast cancer
In the 18th century, physicians noticed nuns had some of the highest rates of breast cancer. It was one of the earliest clues that led scientists to suspect that child-bearing and breastfeeding could protect against the disease.
Modern data has confirmed the centuries-old observation but the biological reasons behind it have remained unclear. Explanations have often focused on pregnancy-related hormonal changes, but research published Tuesday in Nature has found breastfeeding provides long-lasting immune protection.
Continue reading...Caesareans drive rise in assisted deliveries as experts warn of complex pregnancies linked to age, obesity and other conditions
More than half of women having a baby in Britain now do so with the help of medical intervention, an audit of NHS maternity care has revealed.
Of the 592,594 births that took place in 2023, 50.6% involved either a caesarean section or the use of instruments such as forceps or a ventouse suction cup.
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