Heavy flow: are period pants the revolutionary solution to an age old problem?

Tampons, towels and the occasional menstrual cup are the go-to products for women seeking to manage their period. But knickers with a waterproof layer could be the answer for everything from pelvic floor weakness to unusually heavy periods

Book doulas: the new way to push your writing into the world

A cuddly new publishing service has arrived to help struggling authors with ‘bookbirthing’ – and for all its new-age trappings, it seems to be catching on

Years of pain, but no diagnosis: one woman’s experience of endometriosis

Katie Beales suffered crippling monthly pain from the age of 14, but doctor after doctor failed to recognise a disease that impacts up to one in 10 women

‘Listen to women’: UK doctors issued with first guidance on endometriosis

Disease, which causes crippling pain and can lead to infertility, affects 176 million women worldwide and currently takes seven to eight years to diagnose

Lydia Towsey: how I discovered the Venus in me

From Botticelli to glossy magazines, women have been idealised and misrepresented for centuries. Performance poet Lydia Towsey reveals how her own near-fatal eating disorder set her on a path to explore new ways of looking at female bodies

Gemma Arterton reveals studio filmed her exercising to make her lose weight for role

Actor describes ‘traumatic’ experience at the hands of producers who flew out a personal trainer to Morocco and filmed her at the gym to prove she was exercising

How much can you exercise while pregnant?

For years, mothers-to-be have been told to cut back on exercise and take it easy despite the positive effects on body and mind. So how much is OK – and what workouts are recommended?

Bollywood’s hot new topics: open toilets, menstrual hygiene and erectile dysfunction

Forget all those swirling songs and plots about love, heartache and family values. Bollywood has more pressing concerns

The Guardian view on vaginal mesh implants: trust data and patients

Editorial: The devices have benefited a large number of women – but thousands have suffered serious adverse effects

Vaginal mesh implants: ‘I really thought I was dying’

Carolyn Churchill was in agony after mesh surgery, but doctors were reluctant to blame her implant, even suggesting the pain might be a mental health issue

OurChemist

Our Chemist – Health