A week before Mother’s Day, providers, advocates, and mothers gathered on the National Mall to call for policy and practice changes to reduce the US’s shameful maternal mortality statistics.
Infectious Diseases & Vaccines
Study: Communication training, resources can help clinicians boost HPV vaccine uptake
A new study finds that with the right patient engagement tools, clinicians can increase HPV immunization rates among teens.
Research shows that legal abortions are safe and effective — and that state laws restricting them diminish the quality of abortion care.
Diversity in the science fields does more than ensure a variety of perspectives and passions in the pursuit of scientific discovery. It also sends a message to young people that science is for everyone.
U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter has died at age 88, after three decades of fighting for women’s rights and public health in Congress.
In addition to a problematic funding announcement, the Title X program faces grantee selection from an abstinence-only advocate and the threat of elimination from House Republicans.
About two weeks ago, federal health officials released a new funding announcement for the nation’s Title X family planning program, which serves millions of women each year. In the entire 60-page document, you won’t find the words “contraception” or “contraceptive” mentioned even once.
Addiction & Substance Abuse
For newborns with opioid withdrawal, forgoing intensive care and rooming with mom may be best
One of the more heartbreaking ripple effects of America’s opioid addiction epidemic is a massive increase in newborns experiencing drug withdrawal. Public health officials have tracked a 400 percent increase in such cases — technically known as neonatal abstinence syndrome — with one impacted baby born every 25 minutes as of 2012.
It’s time for federal lawmakers to catch up with the quickly changing relationship between employers and workers; an upcoming Supreme Court case could upend public-sector unions; New York farmworker loses court case to gain organizing rights, but vows to appeal; and the country’s biggest janitorial company faces new allegations of sexual abuse in the workplace.
Children's Health
Study finds big differences in infant mortality within Texas cities and between its ZIP codes
As a state, Texas’ infant mortality rate is below the national average, at 5.7 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. But within the state, some communities experience much higher rates, with stark differences between ZIP codes sitting only a few miles apart.