My party outfit was so fancy I couldn’t even use the toilet. Some joker still told me I looked ‘comfy’

I like a compliment as much as the next woman. But why do they so often leave us smarting, asks the comedian, actor and writer Jessica Fostekew

I thought vaginismus would end my sex life – but it was just the beginning

The pain of penetrative sex meant my partner and I had to explore other options, says journalist Shiler Mahmoudi

Dentists would not treat my toothache – now my health has been wrecked for ever

I was fit and healthy when I first felt pain in a molar. After numerous dentists and doctors left it untreated, there were knock-on effects throughout my body. Today I am in constant pain and look almost unrecognisable

Relentlessly pushing the idea of ‘natural’ childbirth is an affront to pregnant women

The Ockenden report revealed fatal myths in maternity care. But their potent allure remains

After my sister died I didn’t know what to do with my furious pain – but poets and horses led the way

I was heartbroken and angry but horse riding and medieval poetry revealed the quest I was on, says Clover Stroud

Last rites? Supermarkets’ annual Easter egg bonanza to end

Shoppers may soon have to hunt for chocolate eggs as anti-obesity law dictates how and where unhealthy foods can be sold

‘I was told they didn’t offer C-sections’ – the dangerous obsession with ‘natural births’

Amid recent maternity scandals, women are speaking out about not being listened to when having a baby – in some cases with terrible consequences

Headaches: are you one of the one in six people suffering today?

Study finds 7% of global population experience migraine and 9% a tension-type headache on any given day

‘Enjoy it while you can’. Is there a more gloomy phrase to hear while pregnant?

Strangers are so keen to tell me my life as I know it will be over soon – thank goodness for those who have told me it will be OK, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

Having a near-death experience taught me how to live better

After an ectopic pregnancy that ruptured, Georgina Scull spoke to people around the world facing death – and discovered the regrets they want us all to learn from