Obstetrics & gynaecology

A new study indicates that 70.9% of women in Spain experience menstrual discomfort every month or almost every month. Despite the high prevalence, 20% of those who experience discomfort monthly report they have never had a gynecological visit.

Each year, Black Maternal Health Week (April 11–17) brings attention to an ongoing crisis in the United States.

A team of molecular and cell biologists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Yale University School of Medicine and Schneider Women’s Hospital has discovered that more changes take place in the bodies of pregnant women than had been previously known. In their study published in the journal Science Advances, the group analyzed blood samples from women at different stages of pregnancy and after giving birth.

The success of in vitro fertilization depends on many factors, one of which is sperm viability. A recent study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign documents a new way to select viable sperm and prolong their viability in the laboratory, reducing one source of variability during the process. The work is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

More and more young women are hesitant about having children. New research from Uppsala University shows that 1 in 4 are either unsure about or do not want to have children at all—a big increase compared to 2014, when only 1 in 10 felt this way. The same study also shows that fewer people are using condoms and that a large proportion perceived consent when sexual activity was initiated.

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) find it harder to get pregnant, have more frequent miscarriages and have a higher risk of developing endometrial cancer.

Weight stigma is a commonly reported experience in maternity care that negatively impacts the health of mothers and their babies. Women who experience weight stigma commonly report symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress and poorer physical and behavioral health that can also impact their pregnancy outcomes.

Poor regulation and lack of transparency in Africa’s fertility industry leave sperm donors and recipients vulnerable to exploitation and unethical practices, including relatives unwittingly having children together, fertility experts warn.

In the first 18 months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, most states with abortion bans saw a rise in infant deaths, new research reveals.

The existing prediction models for severe complications of preeclampsia are most accurate only in the two days after hospital admission, with deteriorating performance over time, according to a study published February 4 in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Henk Groen of University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and colleagues.