The birth trauma scandal is not about one bad apple, one bad culture or one bad area – it’s about the mess of austerity

When I gave birth in the 00s, things were not perfect by any stretch, but unlike now, they were not broken absolutely everywhere, writes Zoe Williams

I was a running addict – but pushing myself to the limit led to two knee replacements

Beware what the fitness gurus tell you: the body has its limits. Perhaps that’s why orthopaedic waiting lists are so long, says journalist Rod Gilchrist

‘No one’s being honest about it’: how NHS crisis forces patients to go private

Long waiting lists are creating a boom in the medical insurance market, leading to fears of a long-term change in attitudes to the health service

Black women in England suffer more serious birth complications, analysis finds

They are six times more like to have pre-eclampsia compared with their white counterparts, as health inequalities persist

‘My child was drowning’: life and death on an English maternity ward

Norah Bassett was hours old when she died in 2019, after multiple failings in her care. What can be learned from her heartbreaking loss?

‘Is this how I die?’ John Crace on his terrifying heart attack

The Guardian’s sketchwriter spent four days in hospital this month fearing for his life. He writes about his pain and terror – and the people who put him back together

Thank you, NHS England, for offering baby-loss leave. This kindness should be every employee’s right

Only about one-fifth of employers give paid leave after miscarriage, says Kat Brown, editor of No One Talks About This Stuff: 22 Stories of Almost Parenthood

Sweating with fear, I waited to hear the doctor’s verdict. Then the radio started playing Call Me Maybe …

I’m all for a bit of distraction in a tense medical situation, writes Nell Frizzell, but who on earth picks those tunes?

Investors are making a fortune from UK healthcare. Why is nobody holding private equity to account?

From care homes to cancer treatment, millions in taxpayer funds are being paid out of the system every year, says David Rowland, director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest

The Guardian view on the privatisation of health: outsourcing will not save the NHS

Editorial: Buying care from the private sector brings short-term relief, but it won’t solve the problem of underfunding