World is short of nearly a million midwives, report warns
Shortage raises rates of maternity intervention, while improving access to care could potentially save 4.3m lives a year, say experts
How can we learn from unrequited love?
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
Beyond Kegels: I found a fix for a common type of incontinence – why don’t more women know about it?
After years of worrying that running or sneezing would leave me needing fresh underwear, a quick, minimally invasive procedure changed my life
‘She was like a deer in headlights’: how unskilled radical birthkeepers took hold in Canada
In holistic communities and midwifery deserts, women are turning to the Free Birth Society for information and unlicensed providers
Friday briefing: How the Free Birth Society’s philosophy contributed to a preventable death
In today’s newsletter: The Guardian’s new podcast, The Birth Keepers, explores how a global network promoting unassisted childbirth has shaped women’s decisions around childbirth. One mother’s story stands as a stark warning
One in five women in England say their concerns were ignored during childbirth, survey finds
Women say fears were dismissed and help was unavailable at crucial moments during labour
Parasite cleanses: why are so many people obsessed with intestinal worms?
Probably the most disgusting online trend of 2025, this has led to pictures of people’s excrement all over the internet. Please make it stop ...
The truth about the ‘gender care gap’: are men really more likely to abandon their ill wives?
It’s one thing facing a major diagnosis; it’s quite another dealing with your partner pulling away. But does the stereotype match the reality?
Death of Irish mother in ‘free birth’ reveals how poor maternity care is pushing women towards extreme influencers
Women in Ireland and the UK linked to Free Birth Society among scores around world to have suffered loss or serious harm after births
If toxic humility is a thing, I definitely have it. But perhaps there’s another way
We’re taught that modesty is good and pride is bad. This ignores the fact that telling ourselves we’re OK is actually beneficial, writes Emma Beddington