‘I kept begging for pain relief’: the women forced to give birth without gas and air

Some hospitals are suspending supplies of gas and air, after it was found to pose health risks to midwives. What can be done to ensure pregnant women still get the help they need?

‘Lift the lid, and there’s a well of rage’: why women are mad as hell (and not afraid to show it)

Once upon a time, women showing their anger was frowned upon. But the gender anger gap is widening, and women’s wrath is on the rise, about everything from police brutality to domestic inequality

‘Let it all go and be sexy’: the Asian aunties exploring their sensuality through Zumba

In this Melbourne gym, an army of middle-aged women are finding confidence in the chest shimmies and ‘slut drops’ of the high-energy dance regime

Post-birth surfing was my source of joy, and parental guilt

While pregnant, surfer Gill Hutchison voluntarily ‘beached herself’. Her return to the waves required a new type of balancing act

I’ve always bought too many clothes, but my life was being ruined by hoarding

I’d spent years in a tearful cycle of shame and anxiety about my possessions and didn’t understand why – until I got help

Self-care is important – but we shouldn’t mistake it for feminist action

As long as there is a big gap between the women who have the most freedoms, and those with the least, our work as feminists is not over

‘I jumped off the hangover hamster wheel’: midlife drinkers who gave up booze – and got happy

In the UK, those aged 55 to 75 are the heaviest drinkers, with the generation below not far behind. But many are turning their backs on alcohol and discovering surprising benefits

‘We really need this space’: a holistic retreat for black women

Wellness tourism is almost exclusively a white domain. But one lifestyle coach has made it her mission to challenge that status quo. We join her Essex retreat

How chronic illness radically changed my view of womanhood

Finding it ‘fragile’ and ‘gross’, femininity was something Ione Gamble refused to conform to. Then she was diagnosed with a disease which changed everything

Young people don’t hate their bodies because they are weak – but because capitalism demands it

From buccal fat to cellulite, anything innate to humans that can be made into a problem will create a market for the solution, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams