Exclusive: New research finds ‘clinical, cruel’ language used by medics is unacceptable to many
Women who have lost a baby often dislike the language used by medical professionals and would prefer the term “pregnancy loss” over “miscarriage”, research has found.
More than six in 10 women (61%) who had lost a baby between 18 and 23 weeks of pregnancy said it was unacceptable for doctors, midwives and nurses to use the word “miscarriage”.
Continue reading...Regulator deems posters offensive, though Elexir Pharma argues term is ‘not loaded in the same way as in the UK’
The Swedish advertising ombudsman has criticised a company for using the C-word in posters to promote vaginal health supplements, saying the use of the “gross profanity” is offensive to consumers.
The ads, displayed on public transport in Stockholm and Gothenburg, feature the phrase “you can cunt on us” in pink writing.
Continue reading...Country ordered to compensate victims of programme that affected more than 300,000 women in 1990s
A UN committee has urged Peru to compensate women who were forcibly sterilised in the 1990s, ruling that the state policy could constitute a “crime against humanity”.
Forced sterilisation was part of a programme implemented by Peru’s then president Alberto Fujimori during the final four years before he left office in 2000 after a decade in power.
Continue reading...‘Service deserts’ affect those in high-disadvantage regional districts most, Women’s Health Victoria study says
Seven out of 10 Victorian local government areas have no surgical abortion provider and one in five have no medical abortion provider, a new report shows.
The Realising Access report released on Thursday by the not-for-profit Women’s Health Victoria also found “service deserts” most profoundly affect women in high-disadvantage regional areas. Women in such areas are 300% more likely to seek abortion services later than nine weeks, meaning they require a surgical abortion for which there are even fewer providers.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Procedures performed by convicted breast surgeon were not a recognised or authorised type of operation
The convicted breast surgeon Ian Paterson pitched one of his patients an unauthorised cleavage-sparing mastectomy “almost like a sales job”, an inquest has heard.
Chloe Nikitas, an environmental consultant from Tamworth, died in 2008 at the age of 43 from breast cancer that returned three years after having a mastectomy she believed had removed all of her breast tissue.
Continue reading...Study shows roughly 247 more infant deaths per month than expected in 18 months after supreme court’s decision
In the 18 months after the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, leading more than a dozen states to implement near-total abortion bans, hundreds more babies died than expected, new research has found.
The research, which was conducted by researchers from the Ohio State University and published Monday in Jama Pediatrics, compared data on infant mortality from the months before Roe’s downfall with data from afterward. Overall infant mortality, the researchers found, rose by 7%.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Queensland LNP leader faced questions at leaders’ debate after saying in 2023 he would allow MPs a conscience vote on changes to legislation
Queensland’s opposition leader, David Crisafulli, told a live audience last year “I don’t believe in late-term abortions” and promised MPs a conscience vote on the issue – answering questions he has refused to respond to more than 132 times during the state election campaign.
The Liberal National party leader has been dogged by the issue for weeks, refusing to declare his hand on a bill which will be introduced by Katter’s Australian party next parliament, including whether he would vote for it or grant other MPs a conscience vote.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Process tested in patients over 10-year period involves short course of chemotherapy before chemoradiation
Doctors are hailing a “remarkable” new treatment regime for cervical cancer that reduces the risk of dying by 40%, in the biggest advance against the disease in 25 years.
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally, with about 660,000 new cases and 350,000 deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization. In the UK, there are about 3,200 cases and 800 deaths each year.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Robbie Katter says he will immediately sponsor a bill to amend the current legislation if the LNP is elected this month
The Queensland crossbencher Robbie Katter says he will consider forcing a vote to recriminalise abortion if the Liberal National party wins government at this month’s state election.
Katter says he will table legislation to wind back current laws with one option a “clean repeal” of Labor’s 2018 Termination of Pregnancy Act, a move that would return abortion to the 1899 criminal code.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Billionaire launches $250m fund to address problem as she warns of growth of ‘maternity care deserts’
Women’s health is being neglected worldwide with “maternity care deserts” more common, millions denied abortions and maternal death rates surging, Melinda French Gates has warned as she launches a $250m (£190m) fund to improve women’s physical and mental health globally.
Despite advances in medicine, women experience “unacceptable” inequities across all aspects of their health, spend more years living with ill health and still face barriers to accessing basic care. Women in rich and poor nations are affected and more than 700 are dying in childbirth each day, French Gates said.
Continue reading...No requirement to go to GP for new prescription for pill, as long as it has been taken for at least two years
More women in New South Wales will have easier access to the oral contraceptive pill as a trial designed to reduce pressure on the state’s healthcare system becomes permanent.
Under the changes, from Saturday women will be able to get a resupply of their pill from a certified pharmacist without needing to go back to the doctor for a new prescription – as long as they have been taking the medication for two years.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Federal health minister also calls for prosecution of shopkeepers caught illegally selling vapes
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, says he is “astounded” that medical students can spend as little as one hour learning about menopause and has signalled that the government is likely to take action after a damning parliamentary inquiry.
On Sunday Butler told the ABC’s Insiders that several inquiries had told a “shameful story” about women’s treatment in Australia’s health system, saying there was more to do after Labor’s “modest investments” in women’s health.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Ipsos survey asked people in 31 countries what they thought of their health and healthcare
Mental health has overtaken cancer and obesity as the health problem most Britons worry about, a global survey has revealed.
Experts said the shift in the public’s perception reflected the sharp rise in recent years in mental ill-health caused by the Covid pandemic, the cost of living crisis and male violence against women.
Continue reading...CQC issues damning report on maternity services in England as minister admits anxiety over ‘risk of disaster’
Maternity services in England are so inadequate that cases of women receiving poor care and being harmed in childbirth are in danger of becoming “normalised”, the NHS regulator has said.
A Care Quality Commission (CQC) report based on inspections of 131 maternity units sets out an array of problems, adding to the sense of crisis that has enveloped an NHS service that cares for the 600,000 women a year who give birth and their babies.
Some women, frustrated at facing such long delays in being assessed at triage, discharge themselves before they are seen.
65% of units are not safe for women to give birth in, 47% of trusts are rated as requiring improvement on safety and another 18% are rated as inadequate.
Some hospitals do not record incidents that have resulted in serious harm.
There is a widespread lack of staff and in some places a lack of potentially life-saving equipment.
Hospitals do not always consider women’s suffering after receiving poor care.
Continue reading...Ruling, which may be reviewed by appellate court, could strike reproductive rights measure off November ballot
A Missouri judge has ruled that a ballot measure asking voters whether abortion rights should be enshrined in the state constitution is invalid, potentially jeopardizing an election scheduled for November.
In a ruling issued on Friday, Cole county circuit judge Christopher Limbaugh said that the reproductive rights petition – also known as amendment 3 – led by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom did not comply with state law.
Continue reading...Gillian Merron tells Lords the goal of reducing rate of preterm births to 6%, which was set in 2019, may be changed
The women’s health minister has admitted there is no chance the government will meet its target of reducing the premature birthrate to 6% in England by 2025.
Preterm birth, when a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, is the biggest cause of death among children under five in the UK. The previous government set a target in 2019 to reduce the preterm birthrate to 6% by 2025.
Continue reading...Increase of 18% in a year attributed to more diagnoses, especially among younger women
A record number of people in England are taking medication used to treat ADHD, data shows, underlining a surge in the number of diagnoses.
Almost 278,000 patients in England were prescribed central nervous system stimulants (CNS) and drugs to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) between April 2023 and March 2024, latest NHS Business Services Authority data shows.
Continue reading...Research suggests at-home tests could encourage 400,000 more women a year to have a screening
Women could be offered DIY cervical screening tests on the NHS, after research found self-testing at home significantly improved screening rates.
Researchers calculated that being able to take their sample at home could encourage about 400,000 more women a year to have a cervical screening.
Continue reading...NHS England says its ambition to wipe disease out by 2040 relies on more under-50s coming forward
Women have been urged by NHS officials to attend cervical screenings after figures showed a third of those under 50 do not take up their invitation.
Each year, about 3,200 women in the UK are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 850 die from it. It is the 14th most common cancer affecting women in Britain, with women aged 30 to 34 most likely to be diagnosed with it.
Continue reading...Women should be tested for gestational diabetes before 14 weeks, say academics
Pregnant women should be tested for diabetes much earlier than the current practice of doing so between 24 and 28 weeks, according to research.
Gestational diabetes, a form of the condition that only develops in pregnancy, affects thousands of women in the UK and one in seven pregnancies worldwide. It is the most common medical pregnancy complication and occurs when a hormone made by the placenta stops the body from using insulin effectively, leading to elevated blood glucose levels.
Continue reading...