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Obstetrics & gynaecology news

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Study finds fertility remains high in rural Tanzania despite access to family planning

Fertility rates in much of Sub-Saharan Africa remain high, despite declining child mortality and improved access to contraceptives and female education—factors that generally lead to smaller families and improved economic ...

Obstetrics & gynaecology

HPV vaccine can protect against severe lesions of the vulva and vagina, study finds

Girls who are vaccinated against HPV are not only well protected against cervical cancer; they are also less likely to develop severe precancerous lesions of the vulva and vagina, particularly if they were vaccinated before ...

Obstetrics & gynaecology

FDA adds brain tumor warning to Depo-Provera birth control shot

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new safety warning for Depo-Provera, a widely used birth control shot made by Pfizer, alerting patients to a possible risk for a type of brain tumor called meningioma.

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Breaking the silence on women's pelvic floor disorders

Many women assume pelvic floor health issues are simply their fate—part of having vaginal deliveries, getting older, gaining weight or entering menopause. Perhaps they have watched their mothers and grandmothers live with ...

Medical research

How embryos and the uterus 'talk' during implantation

A new study shows that the embryo and the uterine lining conduct an active "conversation" from the very earliest stages of implantation. They engage in a back and forth of tiny packages called extracellular vesicles and lipid ...

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Why sexual assault care falls short in rural areas

Survivors of sexual assault in rural communities often struggle to access specialized care. New research from The University of Texas at Arlington helps explain why.

Oncology & Cancer

New guideline maps care for pregnant women with blood cancers

A new guideline from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) offers clear, evidence-based direction for treating blood cancers during pregnancy and shows that many patients can safely receive timely cancer care without ...

Health

Sexual minority individuals face higher cesarean risks

Individuals who identify as a sexual minority face higher risks of primary cesarean birth compared with their completely heterosexual peers, according to a new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. ...

Health

San Francisco woman gives birth in a Waymo self-driving taxi

Self-driving Waymo taxis have gone viral for negative reasons involving the death of a beloved San Francisco bodega cat and pulling an illegal U-turn in front of police who were unable to issue a ticket to a nonexistent driver.

Obstetrics & gynaecology

£13m NHS bill for 'mismanagement' of menstrual bleeds

A UK study has revealed that acute heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) is placing a significant hidden burden on the NHS, with around £13 million spent annually on hospital admissions and post-discharge care.

Cardiology

Uterine fibroids linked to elevated heart disease risk

Long-term heart disease risk in women diagnosed with uterine fibroids was more than 80% higher than in women without fibroids, according to new independent research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Autism spectrum disorders

Maternal obesity linked to autism-like behaviors in offspring

In a study conducted at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, researchers from the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) have uncovered a mechanistic link between maternal obesity prior to pregnancy and autism-related ...

Obstetrics & gynaecology

TikTok birth control posts expose people to risk

Misleading birth control advice on TikTok is exposing young people to an increased risk of unplanned pregnancies, according to new research by La Trobe University.

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Portable spectroscopy enables detection of vaginal microbes

Vaginal health is tightly linked to the balance of bacteria in the microbiome, especially certain species of Lactobacillus. When this balance is disturbed—a condition known as dysbiosis—it can lead to increased risk of ...

Social Sciences

Gambia baby death heightens alarm over female genital mutilation

Rights activists in The Gambia are calling for justice after a one-month-old baby's death was linked to female genital mutilation, a widely practiced but illegal procedure up for review before the country's Supreme Court.

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Losing weight before IVF may increase chance of pregnancy

A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessed whether weight loss interventions before in vitro fertilization (IVF) improved reproductive outcomes. The review found that weight loss ...

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Sexual health is an extra struggle for women with disabilities

Even after more than three decades of global efforts to promote inclusive sexual and reproductive health policies, many women with disabilities in Africa still face serious challenges. Their rights are often overlooked, and ...

Health

Review highlights untapped potential of the vaginal microbiome

The vaginal microbiome is a largely overlooked area of medicine that could dramatically improve outcomes for millions of women, concludes a new review published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. The study ...

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Experts unite to tackle a quiet lactation crisis

It began as a conversation in Chicago last fall among a group of researchers who shared a persistent question: Why do so many mothers struggle to provide exclusive breast milk feedings to their infants? During August, which ...