Fear on the ward: UK mothers threatened with social services for refusing maternity care

Women who refuse advice from health service staff say they are being coerced with threats of referrals to agencies and police

Can a mother ever be good enough? I know what my son would say …

My almost 14-year-old is annoyed that I think his birthday is a bigger deal for me than it is for him. Still, it will always be my special day, writes Zoe Williams

Troubled maternity wards still jeopardising patients, watchdog warns

CQC inspection of nine struggling units suggests mothers and babies remain at risk from poor care and closed systems

The Taliban are not the only threat to Afghanistan. Aid cuts could undo 20 years of progress

The most vulnerable people will bear the cost of sanctions, as services and the economy collapse

Delivering babies in a Nigerian camp: ‘I’ve had to use plastic bags as gloves’

After seeing a woman die in childbirth, Liyatu Ayuba stepped in and has now delivered 118 babies in a community cut off from public health services

‘I knew how dangerous things could become’: the perils of childbirth as a Black woman

When she was pregnant, Anna Malaika Tubbs was thrilled – then terrified, knowing the shockingly high death rate of Black women in childbirth. Could she find a way to stay safe?

I’ve been delivering babies for 50 years. What exactly is a ‘normal birth’?

Pursuit of ‘normal birth’ has sometimes compromised the safety of mothers and babies, with consequences for maternity care

‘No discussion’: significant increase in women being induced for low-risk births, study finds

Induced births lead to higher rates of medical intervention and are not recommended in uncomplicated pre-term pregnancies, so why are they on the rise?

‘It’s easy to dismiss Black women’s lives’: Texas drags feet on maternal mortality crisis

As state legislature falls short on Medicaid expansion, campaigners vow to keep addressing healthcare disparities

Parent trap: why the cult of the perfect mother has to end

Worldwide, mothers are overworked, underpaid, often lonely and made to feel guilty about everything from epidurals to bottle feeding. Fixing this is the unfinished work of feminism