Latest Pregnancy and childbirth News
Maternal deaths surged in Texas in 2020, 2021
The rate of Texas women who died because of pregnancy or childbirth rose sharply in 2020 and 2021 to the highest since the state started tracking maternal deaths in 2013. Even excluding deaths related to COVID-19, the numbers were worse than usual, reversing two years of progress in driving the...
Vermont caps emergency motel housing for homeless, forcing many to leave this month
BERLIN, Vt. (AP) — This fall, hundreds of the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness in Vermont must leave state-funded motel rooms where they’ve been living as the state winds down its pandemic-era motel voucher program. The move is prompting outcry from municipal leaders and...
Most maternal deaths can be prevented. Here’s how California aims to cut them in half
After a rise in the rate of maternal deaths, California health officials have a new plan to keep new mothers healthy before and after birth. Their goal: cut pregnancy-related deaths in half by 2026. Between 2019 and 2021, more than 200 Californians died during pregnancy, at...
Scientists show how pregnancy changes the brain in innumerable ways
Neuroscientist Liz Chrastil got the unique chance to see how her brain changed while she was pregnant and share what she learned in a new study that offers the first detailed map of a woman's brain throughout gestation. The transition to motherhood, researchers discovered, affects...
This new Mexican blessed is considered a protector of life from conception. Who was Moisés Lira?
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Catholic Church is getting a new addition to its ranks of “blessed,” with the beatification of the Rev. Moisés Lira. The beatification ceremony was taking Saturday at Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Basilica, led by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, who was...
California pair convicted in Chinese birth tourism scheme
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury on Friday convicted a Southern California couple of running a business that helped pregnant Chinese women travel to the United States without revealing their intentions to give birth to babies who would automatically have American citizenship. Michael Liu...
Feds rarely punish hospitals for turning away pregnant patients
As the pregnant woman's contractions rolled in every two minutes, staff at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, dispatched an ambulance to send her elsewhere. Just two minutes later, she gave birth to a 6-pound baby girl in the cab of the ambulance...
Nevada is joining the list of states using Medicaid to pay for more abortions
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada is primed to become the 18th state to use Medicaid funds to increase access to abortion for lower-income women. The change is a result of a court ruling that became official this week after the state government declined to appeal it within 30 days of the...
Nebraska ballot will include competing measures to expand or limit abortion rights, top court rules
The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday that competing measures that would expand or limit abortion rights can appear on the November ballot. The high court’s ruling came days after it heard arguments in three lawsuits that sought to keep one or both of the competing abortion...
Congressional Democrats push resolution that says hospitals must provide emergency abortions
WASHINGTON (AP) — A resolution introduced by Congressional Democrats would make clear that U.S. emergency rooms need to provide emergency abortions when a woman's health or life is at risk, despite strict state abortion bans. Legislators cited a report by The Associated Press that...
