Health & Wellness

They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth.

Amy Yurkanin / Propublica Mar 19, 2026 In Florida, where the fetal personhood movement is strong, two women had to attend virtual court hearings while in labor to argue for their right to choose their own medical care. Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

Immigration

Ice Fears Put Pregnant Immigrants and Their Babies at Risk

Mel Leonor Barclay, Shefali Luthra / The 19th Oct 7, 2025 Fear of deportation is deterring people without permanent legal status from critical care. Doctors are worried for their health — and the health of their pregnancies. Dig deeper ( 10 Min. Read )

Health & Wellness

Study: Plastics Pose ‘Urgent Threat’ to Children’s Lifelong Health

Pamela Ferdinand / U.S. Right To Know Sep 30, 2025 Scientists say chemicals in everything from food packaging to bath products cause lasting health damage and call for urgent global action. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Health & Wellness

Pregnant People in Rural America Are Running Out of Places To Give Birth

Shefali Luthra, Barbara Rodriguez / The 19th Aug 7, 2025 Some doctors worry that cuts to Medicaid will require patients to drive hundreds of miles for prenatal care and delivery services. Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

Health & Wellness

We Can’t Ignore America’s Maternal Health Crisis

Amy Grace Sullivan / Undark Jun 26, 2025 Several state maternal mortality review committees have had lapses in their reporting of pregnancy-related death data. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Race

Why Is the American Health Care System Failing Pregnant Black Women?

Duaa Eldeib / ProPublica Dec 27, 2022 They are twice as likely as white women to have a stillbirth and three times as likely to die in childbirth. Dig deeper ( 13 Min. Read )

Why Was a Mother Charged Nearly $1 Million for a Premature Birth?

Marshall Allen / ProPublica Nov 4, 2019 Dignity Health abruptly reverses course after first denying coverage to an employee's newborn daughter under dubious circumstances. Dig deeper ( 6 Min. Read )

U.S. Pregnancy Deaths Are Up, Especially Among Minorities

MIKE STOBBE and MARILYNN MARCHIONE / The Associated Press May 7, 2019 "An American mom today is 50% more likely to die in childbirth than her own mother was," says a Harvard Medical School obstetrician. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

A Surrogate Mother’s Cautionary Tale

Julie Bindel / Truthdig Mar 6, 2019 Defenders of the practice of surrogacy contend that everyone benefits from it, but that’s not always the case. Dig deeper ( 9 Min. Read )

Proposed Funding for Women’s Health Would Lead to ‘Contraception Deserts’

Ilana Novick Oct 4, 2018 The Trump administration wants to limit access to birth control for low-income women. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Midwives are Caught in a Culture War Deeply Rooted in Race and Class (Video)

Ranjani Chakraborty / ProPublica Jun 6, 2018 What makes maternal health care in other affluent countries look so different from that of the U.S.? Among other things, midwives. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

‘Tully’ Delivers a Welcome Postpartum Digression

Carrie Rickey / Truthdig May 2, 2018 Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis sparkle in this satire on the outsourcing of parenthood. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )