NEW in today’s @notusmetro.bsky.social newsletter: MedStar Washington Hospital Center shutters one of its two postpartum wards Sunday. It’s the first health provider in the District to reduce service citing, at least in part, recent changes to Medicaid (🧵) www.notus.org/metro-newsle...

Labor Pains

notus.org

1/ At 17 weeks pregnant, Emily Waldorf was suddenly faced with a life-threatening situation: Her baby’s foot was dipping out of her cervix. Doctors told her the longer her cervix stayed open, the higher her risk of infection. They knew how to treat her. There was one issue … 🧵

A reporter from Northwestern's Medill News Service is looking to speak with disabled women about their experiences accessing Mifepristone for miscarriage care. If you're willing to share your story, please contact @iamkaitlinb.bsky.social

Meta baby ads are like 'a cot in your front room', say grieving parents Michelle Welsh says targeted adverts are like "putting a cot in the living room" of bereaved families.

MP urges Meta to meet bereaved families over baby adverts

Michelle Welsh says targeted adverts are like "putting a cot in the living room" of bereaved families.

bbc.com

Autopsies show how hard doctors tried to save babies who died after not getting a vitamin K shot: tubes inserted in their airways, blood transfusions. They’re excruciating to read because they underscore how preventable these deaths could have been. By @deldeib.bsky.social

What I Can’t Forget About the Babies Who Died After Not Receiving a Vitamin K Shot

Babies have died after not receiving the vitamin K shot at birth. Their autopsy records underscore how preventable their deaths could have been.

propublica.org

Our first national study shows what doctors and patients have been warning: In states with abortion bans, fewer people are getting miscarriage care. This can threaten patients' health and lives. And it can add a layer of grief on top of an already devastating experience.

Abortion bans are restricting miscarriage care, new study finds

The research is the first national analysis to quantify how abortion restrictions affect people losing their pregnancies.

19thnews.org

Needs of parents during their intrauterine or perinatal child loss – a qualitative multi-method study Julian Siepmann, Lydia Bauernfeind, Daniela Nuber-Fischer, Christian Rester, Karsten Gensheimer & Fritz Sterr link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Needs of parents during their intrauterine or perinatal child loss – a qualitative multi-method study - BMC Public Health

Background The loss of a child during pregnancy or birth is a profound and enduring experience that deeply shapes the lives of families. However, little is known about how parents experience the immed...

link.springer.com

“Maternal grief seizes the body differently from other sorrows,” Danielle Crittenden writes. More than two years have passed, but Miranda’s absence “retains the power to hit me anew each day.” Read more from her essay on the death of her daughter:

On Losing a Daughter

The people we were died at the exact moment our child did.

bit.ly

🆕📄 Evaluating online information on reduced fetal movements: a mixed-methods study ✍️ Sarah Houlihan, Anne-Marie Farrell & @keelinodonoghue.bsky.social 🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Evaluating online information on reduced fetal movements: a mixed-methods study - Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -)

Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -) - Reduced fetal movement (RFM) is a pregnancy warning sign, linked to stillbirth, fetal growth restriction, and preterm birth. Pregnant women seek RFM...

link.springer.com

A bill to create a $1K stillbirth income tax credit in Maryland is headed to the Governor's desk. Congrats to the MD stillbirth parents who have lobbied for this for years. (And let's hope no one needs to use it.) wtop.com/maryland/202...

Chaotic end to Maryland’s legislative session sees signing of new, key bills - WTOP News

Chaos overshadowed Maryland’s 2026 legislative session finale as partisan clashes erupted over a voting rights bill, tempers flared in both chambers, and lawmakers raced the clock to pass major measur...

wtop.com

“Google has created a misinformation crisis. Studies have shown that people tend to trust what AI tells them without question…Another experiment found that users still listened to AI when it gave them the wrong answer nearly 80% of the time—a grim trend the researchers dubbed “cognitive surrender.”

Urban Truth Collective@urbantruth.bsky.social · 4mo ago

“Google’s AI Overviews are peddling misinformation on a scale that may be virtually unprecedented in human history. A recent analysis conducted at the behest of The New York Times found that the AI-generated summaries, which appear above Google search results, are accurate around 91% of the time.”

It's Black Maternal Health Week in Washington, DC. A time for the District to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that every Black woman and birthing person has dignity, respect, and equitable care before, during, and after pregnancy. My full proclamation:

"As a mother and an obstetrician, these are the hardest rooms that I enter, the most difficult places that I hold in my heart." In #APieceofMyMind, an obstetrician discusses the duality of joy and grief experienced in the labor and delivery unit. ja.ma/48mB4vu

Infertility and Memorable Message Mishaps, or What Not to Say to a Person Facing Fertility Issues Kami Kosenko www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Infertility and Memorable Message Mishaps, or What Not to Say to a Person Facing Fertility Issues

Infertility and its treatment create significant support needs, which often go unmet. In addition to support deficits, infertile individuals describe having difficult, upsetting discussions with ot...

tandfonline.com

Ally beat me to it, but excited to share that "Perinatal Palliative Care & Abortion," co-authored with @amwhelan.bsky.social, is forthcoming in the Virginia Law Review. Abstract below and it will be up on SSRN as soon as SSRN allows...

Ally Whelan@amwhelan.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Excited to announce that “Perinatal Palliative Care & Abortion,” co-authored with the fabulous @jillwieberlens.bsky.social, will be published with Virginia Law Review… SSRN draft coming soon 😊

"Invisible in his shadow are the enslaved women whom he experimented on. Today, they are unknown and unnamed except for three: Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey." The story of Dr. Sims in 19th century America. @hiddenbrain.bsky.social #ObGynSky + #BlackHistoryMonth www.npr.org/2016/02/16/4...

Remembering Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern Gynecology

J. Marion Sims is remembered as the father of modern gynecology. Forgotten are the mothers—the enslaved women whose bodies were sacrificed for the advancement of his research.

npr.org

Researchers celebrate early results of a drug that may become the first treatment for a serious complication of pregnancy called preeclampsia. It's got the potential to save many lives. n.pr/4tw3Kex

It's a dangerous complication of pregnancy -- but a new drug holds promise

Researchers celebrate early results of a drug that may become the first treatment for a serious complication of pregnancy called preeclampsia. It's got the potential to save many lives.

n.pr

Pregnancy Outcomes After Second Trimester Pregnancy Loss & Termination for Medical Reasons Before 24 Weeks: A Historical Cohort Study [PASTeL-2] Andrea Woolner, Konstantin Shestopaloff, Alexander Heazell @mcr-sb-research.bsky.social obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... @bjog.bsky.social

OBGYN

Objective To investigate if second trimester pregnancy loss (second trimester miscarriage [STM] or termination for medical reasons [TFMR]) was associated with subsequent adverse pregnancy outcomes. ...

obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

University of Leicester honours midwife who used personal heartbreak to improve care of parents of stillborn babies le.ac.uk/news/2026/ja...

University of Leicester honours midwife who used personal heartbreak to improve care of parents of stillborn babies | News | University of Leicester

le.ac.uk

EXCLUSIVE: In my 1st @rollingstone.com story, internal @hhsofficial.bsky.social emails show how 2 Danish scientists accused of "questionable research practices" got a $1.6 million grant aligned w/ Sec. Kennedy's theories to study HepB vaccine in Guinea-Bissau: rollingstone.com/politics/pol... /1

HHS Gave a $1.6 Million Grant to a Controversial Vaccine Study. These Emails Show How That Happened

Two Danish researchers faced accusations of “questionable research practices” as RFK Jr.’s top appointees made their study a “funding priority”

rollingstone.com

BREAKING: The controversial hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau has been *cancelled,* I can now report. A senior official with Africa CDC confirmed the cancellation and said GB officials are working to make sure any research is conducted ethically: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled

$1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease

theguardian.com

We have the CDC-funded Hepatitis Vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau protocol. It’s worse than you thought. Check it out, first in Inside Medicine… with @pauloffit.bsky.social David Boulware and others. insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-the-...

Scoop: The leaked protocol of the CDC-funded Hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau. “This is another Tuskegee.”

The protocol reveals that the trial will withhold the Hepatitis B birth dose from thousands—without placebos, without universal maternal screening, and with endpoints critics call indefensible.

insidemedicine.substack.com

Study: Stillbirths may be more common in U.S. than previously known. The fetal death rate is particularly high in Black patients, researchers found.

Stillbirths May Be More Common in U.S. Than Previously Known—Study

The fetal death rate is particularly high in Black patients, researchers found.

buff.ly

He was attacked on Jan. 6. Can he make sense of it for the kids he teaches? wapo.st/4pplPrm (gift link)

He was attacked on Jan. 6. Can he make sense of it for the kids he teaches?

Nathan Tate was a D.C. police officer defending the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Now he’s trying to find the lesson in it.

wapo.st

Perinatal #depression affects about 1 in 7 individuals, with symptoms including impaired attachment and risk of suicide. 💡 This JAMA Insights discusses the most effective pharmacological treatments for individuals experiencing perinatal depression. ja.ma/3KTQkrv

'When Anthony Owens lost his first child Arthur shortly before birth, he noticed that women in grief support groups were talkers while men were doers–so, with Féileacáin Fathers, he focused on helping fellow dads remember their babies through physical challenges' www.independent.ie/life/health-...

Baby loss: ‘I just felt as a dad, I was sort of being ignored after my baby died – and by not talking, I let it happen’

Losing a loved one is always a traumatic experience, but when a parent loses a child, the grief can be immeasurable, regardless of the circumstances or how long they were on this earth for.

independent.ie

"Having a miscarriage is an often untold story in women’s health. Now I’m sharing about mine" Essay by Miriam Finder Annenberg edition.cnn.com/2025/12/28/h...

My miscarriage was an isolating experience until I saw I didn’t have to go through it alone | CNN

Pregnancy loss can be isolating for women, even though up to 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. But there is a community of support if you can find it.

edition.cnn.com

“I would feel misunderstood and diminished:” Perceived helpfulness of a grief diagnosis among grievers Kara Thieleman, Joanne Cacciatore & Vincent Mangiapane www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

“I would feel misunderstood and diminished:” Perceived helpfulness of a grief diagnosis among grievers

Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) was recently added to DSM-5-TR. However, concerns remain about its applicability in various bereaved subgroups. This study examined views toward a grief-related diagn...

tandfonline.com

The Compounding Burden of Pregnancy Loss: A Longitudinal Analysis of Quality-of-Life Trajectories After Miscarriage Corneliu Bolbocean, Arri Coomarasamy, Leah Fitzsimmons, Rosinder Kaur, Adam Devall www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S109...

The Compounding Burden of Pregnancy Loss: A Longitudinal Analysis of Quality-of-Life Trajectories After Miscarriage

To characterize the trajectory of health-related quality of life, both overall utility and individual EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) dimensions, over 12 months after miscarriage and assess whe...

valueinhealthjournal.com