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
‘Scandal’ of vaginal mesh removal rates revealed by NHS records
Traumatic complications mean one in 15 women fitted with the most common type of mesh support will require surgery to extract it, figures suggest
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