Menopause is a significant milestone for women, marking the permanent cessation of menstruation after 12 months of amenorrhoea. The onset of menopause is influenced by various factors, including genetics, lifestyle and...

Providing maternity care that is trauma informed, respectful, supportive and promotes patient autonomy, agency and cultural beliefs may encourage lower rates of freebirth.

More research is needed to articulate motivations for freebirth among diverse populations and translate trauma informed and respectful maternity care principles across systems and service providers.

Unassisted childbirth (outside a hospital facility with no professional attendant) is common in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where barriers to access and poverty delimit engagement in maternity healthcare services. However, even in high-income countries (HICs) where maternity healthcare services are more attainable, a small percentage of birthing people are choosing unassisted birth, a...

Breastfeeding sets the foundation for healthy growth and development, with many recognised benefits for both infant and maternal health. Thus, socioeconomic disparities in breastfeeding—which are widely reported in the USA and many other Western countries1—contribute significantly to socioeconomic health disparities across the lifespan. Breastfeeding intentions are an established predictor of breastfeeding outcomes, yet most...

On any given day, approximately 740 000 women and girls1 and an unknown number of transgender, non-binary and gender diverse people are incarcerated globally. Intersecting social and structural factors impact incarceration and healthcare experiences, requiring community-based interventions that address the specific needs of women, transgender and non-binary people leaving prison.

Chronic diseases can impact pregnancy and lead to long-term consequences for women during and after childbirth, causing anxiety. However, medical advancements and...

Social media has rapidly become a key source of advice and support for women during childbirth. The growth of influencers, popular users credited with knowledge and expertise, can be seen in the numerous social posts, blogs, podcasts and videos about pregnancy, birth and parenting. Social media influencers provide responsive and relatable content to their network of followers; but there are concerns about the potential to spread misinformation.1

This systematic literature review2 sought to identify...

Women continue to be one of the fastest growing populations experiencing incarceration, with significant consequences for their newborns and children. Despite international and national requirements for equivalent care to what is available in community, existing research in the field of prison perinatal health has found delays and gaps in care and poor neonatal outcomes associated with pregnancy in prison.1 This study by...

Haemodynamic changes, especially blood volume, heart rate and cardiac output augmentation, during pregnancy can exacerbate symptoms in patients with cardiomyopathy or unmask a preexisting asymptomatic condition.1 Peripartum cardiomyopathy, which also belongs in the cardiomyopathy group, presents with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction towards the end of pregnancy and in the postpartum period, when no other cause of heart failure is evident.1 All these patients are at high...

Pregnancy is a period of major physiological changes. Psychological adjustments occur, more so with a high-risk diagnosis in pregnancy. In their systematic review, the authors outlined the state of the science of pregnant women’s psychopathology, coping and well-being when high-risk conditions including hypertension, diabetes and kidney disease develop during pregnancy. Pregnant women with these conditions can experience ineffective coping, poor well-being, anxiety and depression among other negative symptoms. Provider’s awareness, culturally appropriate education and support can reduce...

Newborns, when consoled with skin-to-skin holding, or KC, are better able to adapt physiologically after caesarean delivery. KC in Turkey is a desired practice, but when the mother has caesarean section, this delays the practice. In Turkey, fathers are not routinely offered KC. Since there is a high rate of caesarean sections in Turkey, the nursing staff do not offer KC to many infants. There are two hypotheses in this study: (1) newborns...

Preferences about childbirth range along a wide continuum from physiological, sometimes even unassisted births, to caesarean sections by maternal request. Despite this wide range, most births in the western world take place in medical settings, making it in practice a medical event, reflecting society’s and health professionals’ views of risk and safety that define birth choices which are considered normative....

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a highly prevalent condition affecting nearly 25% of women, especially in older age groups.1 It is characterised by involuntary leakage of urine and can have a significant impact on quality of life, leading to psychological distress and placing a financial burden...