Women's News

VBAC Reasonably Safe, Should Be More Widely Available, NIH Panel Finds
Vaginal birth after caesarean section is reasonably safe and more women should have access to it, an NIH advisory panel announced on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reports (Roan, Los Angeles Times, 3/11). The VBAC rate has declined from a peak of 28.3% in 1996 to less than 10% currently...

Blogs Respond To Antiabortion Ads, Use Of Twitter To Describe Abortion, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women's health-related blog entries...

Videos Examine Health Reform Abortion Debate, International Women's Day
The following summarizes selected women's health-related videos. Uncertainty Surrounds 'Stupak Dozen': On Wednesday, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow challenged Rep. Bart Stupak's (D-Mich.) claim that he has about twelve lawmakers who will vote against the Senate health reform bill if it doesn't include more restrictions on abortion coverage...

More Focus On Reaching MDGs Needed, Development Officials Say
During a conference in London Thursday, development officials urged world leaders to "accelerate efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 and [said] rich countries must make good on promises to boost aid to poorer nations," Reuters AlertNet reports...

Recent Releases In Global Health
Lancet Comment Asks: What's Next For Global Fund? Reflecting on the recent annual report by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a Lancet comment writes, "Two big challenges remain [for the Global Fund]: first, to show, reliably and independently, that the Fund's investments have delivered the benefits that it claims; and second, on the basis o...

UVA Signs Research Collaboration With Merck & Co., Inc To Discover Women's Reproductive Health Drugs
The University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville announced that it has entered into a research collaboration with Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) to discover novel drugs for women's reproductive health...

Are Cities Designed For Women? Penn-ICOWHI Conference Examines Urban Women's Health
Women comprise more than half the population of the nation's cities, are three times as likely as their male counterparts to live alone after the age of 65, and are primary caregivers for their families at all ages and stages of life...

Free Hormonal Contraception Halved Termination Rate
3500 20- to 24-year-old women from TromsÃ¸ and Hamar in Norway were offered free hormonal contraception for a year. The result was that the abortion rate in the trial cities was halved...

Strong Period Pain And Excess Weight In Childhood Increase Risk Of Endometriosis
Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) scientists have identified a new link between strong period pain experienced in adolescence and early adulthood and the risk of endometriosis. Researchers from QIMR's Gynaecological Cancer Laboratory have found having strong period pain often at an early age doubles a woman's risk of developing endometriosis...

Weight-Bearing Exercise Does Not Prevent Increased Bone Turnover During Weight Loss, MU Researchers Find
While there are many benefits of losing weight, weight reduction also might negatively affect bones in the body. During weight loss, bones are being remodeled - breaking down old bone and forming new bone - at an accelerated rate. As a result, bone density is reduced, causing increased fragility...

Opinions: Haiti Corruption; Financial Sector Tax, G8 Promises; Investing In Women
Preval's Response To Corruption Queries Is 'A Public Relations Debacle' A Washington Post editorial reflects on Haitian President Rene Preval's response to U.S...

Newsweek Examines Role Of New Female Condom In Efforts To Combat Spread Of HIV In D.C.
Women's health experts are watching closely to see whether a recent grant to provide no-cost female condoms in Washington, D.C., will "really make a difference" in the area's HIV/AIDS rate among women, Newsweek's Kate Dailey writes. The goal of the program is to empower women to take control of their own health and safety...

Weighing Parents' Preferences And Risk Factors When Choosing Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) Or Plan A Repeat Cesarean
An independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health confronted a troubling fact that pregnant women currently have limited access to clinicians and facilities able and willing to offer a trial of labor after previous cesarean delivery because of so-called VBAC bans. Many, even those at low risk for complications in a trial of labor, are not offered this option...

The American College Of Obstetricians And Gynecologists Supports Women's Access To Universal Health Care
During Cover the Uninsured Week, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reiterates its position that all women should be guaranteed a package of essential benefits that includes primary and preventive care, pregnancy-related and infant care, medically and surgically necessary services, prescription drugs, and catastrophic care...

CDC Analysis Shows Genital Herpes Rates Remain High
Roughly 16% of U.S. residents ages 14 through 49 are infected with genital herpes, making it one of the nation's most common sexually transmitted infections, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis released on Tuesday, Reuters reports. CDC noted that infection rates for the lifelong and incurable infection varied by gender and race. Twenty-one percent of U.S...

U.S. Maternal Mortality Rate Increases Over Last Decade
The maternal mortality rate in the U.S. appears to have risen over the past 10 years, reaching a rate that is four times higher than the federal government's 2010 goal, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. In 2006, the last year for which nationwide data are available, about 13.3 maternal deaths occurred for every 100,000 live births, compared with around seven deaths per 100,000 births one decade before...

Men's 'Barbarity' Should Not Be Used To Justify Mistreatment Of Women, Opinion Piece Argues
"'Feminism' is a loaded word in the United States," but the "simple fact is that 'the feminists' are absolutely right when it comes to the treatment of women in much of the developing world," Los Angeles Times columnist Jonah Goldberg writes...

Women Who Drink Moderately Appear To Gain Less Weight Than Non-Drinkers
Normal-weight women who drink a light to moderate amount of alcohol appear to gain less weight and have a lower risk of becoming overweight and obese than non-drinkers, according to a report in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. More than half of American adults drink alcoholic beverages, according to background information in the article...

Risk-Free Treatment For Low Female Sexual Desire
According to the Journal of Sexual Medicine, people who engage in regular sexual activity gain several health benefits, such as longer lives, healthier hearts, lower blood pressure, and lower risk of breast cancer. However, approximately 33 percent of women may not receive these benefits due to low sexual desire...

Questioning The Benefits Of Elective Removal Of Ovaries During Hysterectomy: Evidence Suggests Procedure May Do More Harm Than Good
Removal of the ovaries (bilateral oophorectomy) while performing a hysterectomy is common practice to prevent the subsequent development of ovarian cancer. This prophylactic procedure is performed in 55 percent of all US women having a hysterectomy, or approximately 300,000 times each year...

Low-Income Women Living In Small Cities Have Higher Chance Of Obesity
A recent Kansas State University study found that the availability of supermarkets -- rather than the lack of them -- increased the risk of obesity for low-income women living in small cities. This suggests that policies to increase healthful eating behaviors might need to be tailored based on geographic location...

Utah Gov. Signs Revised Bill Allowing Criminal Charges Against Women For Illegal Abortions
Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) on Monday signed a bill (HB 462) that would allow prosecutors to bring criminal homicide charges against women who arrange illegal abortions, the Salt Lake Tribune reports (Gehrke, Salt Lake Tribune, 3/8). An earlier version of the bill (HB 12), sponsored by state Rep...

New York Times Examines Factors Affecting VBAC Rates As NIH Conference Begins
The New York Times on Tuesday examined efforts to increase rates of vaginal births after caesarean sections at the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation, a small hospital run by the Navajo Nation and financed partially by the Indian Health Services...

Obamas, Clinton Commemorate International Women's Day
Marking International Women's Day at the White House Monday, President Barack Obama vowed to fight for gender equality at home and abroad, Agence France-Presse reports. The president marked the event with First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, AFP reports...

Opinions: Don't Slow Fight Against HIV, TB, Malaria; U.S. Focus On Women, Girls
2010 To Be 'Decisive Year' For Global Health, Global Fund Director Says In a BusinessDay opinion piece, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Michel Kazatchkine reflects on the organization's progress and impact on global health outcomes since its creation in 2002, as detailed in the organizations' 2010 annual report...