pregnancy
Many women can’t access miscarriage drug because it’s also used for abortions
Read more Stateline coverage on how states are either protecting or curbing access to abortions. Since losing her first pregnancy four months ago, 32-year-old Lulu has struggled to return to her body’s old rhythms. Lulu, who asked to be identified by her first name to protect her privacy, bled for six full weeks after her […]
10 Medicaid holdout states scramble to improve health coverage
The Republican-led states that have refused to expand Medicaid are trying a variety of strategies to save struggling hospitals and cover more people without full expansion, which was one of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Georgia passed a partial expansion of Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health coverage to low-income and disabled Americans, […]
Faith-based maternity homes ‘create a haven’ in states with strict abortion laws
At the end of a gravel road that runs through a wooded property in Chilton County, Alabama, a plain white two-story house sits overlooking a small pond. Outside the house, everything is tranquil: The swings on the new playground nearby are quiet, the pond is still, the rocking chairs lined up on the covered front […]
Alabama leads nation for arresting, punishing pregnant women, according to report
Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina lead the nation in arresting and criminally punishing women for allegedly posing a danger to their fetuses, according to a report released by advocacy group Pregnancy Justice. Nationwide, nearly 1,400 people were arrested or subject to disparate bail, sentencing and probation for conduct related to their pregnancies between 2006 and […]
Dangers and deaths around Black pregnancies seen as a ‘completely preventable’ health crisis
HOUSTON — Tonjanic Hill was overjoyed in 2017 when she learned she was 14 weeks pregnant. Despite a history of uterine fibroids, she never lost faith that she would someday have a child. But, just five weeks after confirming her pregnancy, and the day after a gender-reveal party where she announced she was having a […]
Pregnant workers have new protections. Here’s what to expect from your boss
Almost two months after workplace accommodations for pregnant workers became law, the rules surrounding what employers can and cannot do have yet to be finalized — but that doesn’t mean the protections are not in place. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s proposed regulations are expected to offer more clarity once finalized, but workers can still […]
Abortion-ban states pour millions into pregnancy centers with little medical care
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Louisiana Republican state Sen. Beth Mizell looked for a way to address her state’s abysmal record on infant and maternal mortality, preterm births and low birth weight. Louisiana has one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Mizell […]
Midwifery grows in Alabama amid maternal health challenges
Kate Petty, a 41-year-old mother, has had two hospital births and two home births after that. In her second hospital birth, her newborn baby, Eliza, passed away just a few hours after being born. She didn’t understand how that happened to Eliza when her pregnancy was without complications up to that point – what she […]
Report: Alabama has highest rates of maternal mortality among southern states
Alabama has the highest rates of maternal mortality among southern states, according to a new report from the Milken Institute, an independent think tank based in California. The report compared maternal mortality rates in states in the deep South. Alabama and Mississippi have the two highest rates of maternal mortality. “It’s not necessarily that much […]
Fertility health coverage is still hard to come by in many states
As fertility rates drop and more women postpone childbirth into their 30s and 40s, more states are considering mandating that private insurers cover fertility treatments to help people start a family without the crushing out-of-pocket expenses. Such laws would help people such as Miraya and Andy Gran of Bloomington, Minnesota, who ended up spending $102,000 to have their […]
FDA approves first over-the-counter oral contraceptive
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it has approved the country’s first daily birth control pill that can be used without a prescription, a move that reproductive health advocates celebrated after more than 20 years of advocating for an over-the-counter option. The contraceptive, called Opill, is a progestin-only oral pill that could soon become available […]
Heart disease, hypertension take toll on Alabama women
Sherron Simmons was leaving a gym in 2010 when she started feeling chest pain and heartburn. By the time she got home, the pain was so bad she could barely get out of her car. She knew that heart disease ran in her family, but she always thought it ran on the male side. Her […]