Latest Pregnancy and childbirth News

Maternal mortality review panels are in the spotlight. Here's what they do

Dec. 05, 2024 10:08 AM EST

Efforts to reduce the nation's persistently high maternal mortality rates involve state panels of experts that investigate and learn from each mother's death. The panels — called maternal mortality review committees — usually do their work quietly and out of the public eye. But...

Prenatal blood test can sometimes hint at cancer in moms-to-be

Dec. 04, 2024 17:35 PM EST

Many moms-to-be opt for blood tests during pregnancy to check for fetal disorders such as Down syndrome. In rare instances, these tests can reveal something unexpected — hints of a hidden cancer in the woman. In a study of 107 pregnant women whose test results were unusual, 52 were...

Rural providers, advocates push Texas Legislature to "rescue" maternal health care system

Dec. 03, 2024 15:32 PM EST

Twenty five years ago, the Texas Legislature passed a sweeping set of reforms to resuscitate the state’s collapsing rural health care system. Now, health care providers, advocates and local leaders are proposing similarly aggressive action to pull the rural maternity care system...

Zimbabwe court rules against law that denies abortion to marital rape victims and girls below 18

Dec. 03, 2024 05:52 AM EST

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — A law prohibiting abortion services for women raped by their husbands and girls under the age of 18 is unconstitutional, Zimbabwe’s High Court has ruled. In his ruling handed down on Nov. 22 and made public this week, Judge Maxwell Takuva said since...

Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ law mostly can be enforced as lawsuit proceeds, court rules

Dec. 02, 2024 23:42 PM EST

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that most of Idaho's first-in-the-nation law that makes it illegal to help minors get an abortion without the consent of their parents can take effect while a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality continues. The...

Listeria outbreak tied to Yu Shang Food leaves California infant dead and 10 people sick

Nov. 23, 2024 14:01 PM EST

A California infant has died and at least 10 other people have been sickened in an outbreak of listeria food poisoning tied to ready-to-eat meat and poultry products that include chicken feet, duck neck, beef shank and pork hock, federal health officials reported Friday. Yu Shang...

Jason Kelce's wife announces she is pregnant with the couple's fourth child

Nov. 23, 2024 11:39 AM EST

Former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce's wife announced Friday that she's pregnant with the couple's fourth child. Kylie Kelce posted a photo on Instagram of the couple’s three young daughters reacting to the news. The oldest daughter, Wyatt, appears to be cupping her head...

Georgia disbands current maternal mortality committee over leaked abortion information

Nov. 21, 2024 19:52 PM EST

Georgia's top health official dismissed all members of a state committee that investigates pregnancy-related maternal deaths after a committee member presumably released information about two such deaths. In a letter first reported by ProPublica and dated Nov. 8, state public health...

Health advocates in Africa worry Trump will reimpose abortion 'gag rule' governing US aid

Nov. 20, 2024 00:09 AM EST

EPWORTH, Zimbabwe (AP) — Carrying her infant daughter, 19-year-old Sithulisiwe Moyo waited two hours to get birth-control pills from a tent pitched in a poor settlement on the outskirts of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. The outreach clinic in Epworth provides Moyo with her best shot...

Judge strikes down Wyoming abortion laws, including an explicit ban on pills to end pregnancy

Nov. 18, 2024 22:29 PM EST

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A state judge on Monday struck down Wyoming's overall ban on abortion and its first-in-the-nation explicit prohibition on the use of medication to end pregnancy in line with voters in yet more states voicing support for abortion rights. Since 2022, Teton...