When meditation turns toxic: the woman exposing spiritual sexism

Since suffering a miscarriage at a women’s retreat, Tara Brach has tried to reform the world of meditation by arming its practitioners with a single weapon: self-compassion

Emma Beddington tries … being a mermaid: ‘I’m more beached seal than beguiling siren’

Being a beautiful watery creature is a challenge if you have no technique or breath control – and can’t hear a word beneath your floral swimming cap

Proximity to green space may help with PMS, study finds

Research adds to growing evidence of the health benefits associated with natural environments

El Salvador ‘responsible for death of woman jailed after miscarriage’

Inter-American court of human rights orders Central American country to reform harsh policies on reproductive health

At the GP, I make a crucial discovery – not about my health, but my personality

Going for my over-40s MOT, I realise there is one area of my life where I have lost absolutely none of my youthful vigour, writes Guardian columnist Zoe Williams

UK health trusts suspend home birth services as midwives shortage deepens

‘Crisis’ in maternity care leaves expectant mothers facing difficult births in hospital or without support at home

Samantha Willis was a beloved young pregnant mother. Did bad vaccine advice cost her her life?

When the UK’s jab programme began, expectant mothers were told to steer clear – so Samantha decided to wait until she had had her baby. Two weeks after giving birth, she died in hospital

The agony of choosing termination for my baby who had foetal anomaly

There is a silence around the death of a baby, and a greater hush around the issue of termination for foetal anomaly. Laura Doward shares her life-changing experience

‘I can’t explain how I am still alive’: Dr Denis Mukwege on risking his life to save African women

The Nobel prize-winning gynaecologist counts Michaela Coel, Jill Biden and a small army of Congolese women among his fans. Yet he still won’t call himself a hero

Go with the flow: how period clothing went mainstream

Period underwear is branching out into leak-proof exercise clothes, swimsuits, sleepwear – even blankets. Is this finally the end of tampons and pads?