On Friday, a judge in Brooklyn, New York reversed a 2011 decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that limited the availability  of the Plan B “morning after pill”  to females who are 17 years of age or older. The judge said the pill had to be available over the counter to all females regardless of age and without the need of a prescription. The judge told the agency it had just 30 days to make a decision on whether the packaging the pill comes in should have any additional labeling. The... 

It has been well documented that some women, after having a child, suffer from depression. However, what was less known until now is how many women suffer from postpartum depression. A study that was the largest of its kind to date showed that up to one out of every 7 mothers suffers from some form of postpartum depression. The study, which was published this week, found that amongst women that were tracked for a full year after giving birth, close to 22% at some point were depressed. The study recommended... 

The latest study in a string of investigations probing the safety of pregnant women taking antidepressants found that taking the most popular types of the drugs during pregnancy did not increase the risk of stillbirth or newborn death.  The report recommended that women with mild symptoms should consider not using SSRIs during pregnancy, but women with severe depression should continue taking medication, as untreated severe depression carries significant potential risks for the mother and the baby. ... 

A report just released says that close to 11% of women 15 to 44 years old in the United States, who have had sexual intercourse, have used the pill referred to as the “morning after” at least once. That means nearly 5.8 million women used the pill, with half of them saying they took the pill due to being worried their birth control method might not have worked and the other 50% saying they took the pill because they took part in unprotected sex. The report by the National Center for Health Statistics... 

A recently published study reveals that woman who used folic acid prior to as well as during their pregnancies were nearly 40% less apt to have children that would be diagnosed later with autism. A great deal of interest in the study has been taken by members of the medical community. Over a number of years, the amount of children diagnosed with one of the different autism spectrum disorders has made a dramatic increase. Today, one child in 88 is affected by the disorders and that has caused an increased... 

According to a new review of studies, babies born via cesarean section are slightly more likely to become heavy or obese than babies delivered vaginally.  The results from nine studies were collected and reviewed by the research team.  These studies included more than 200,000 people.  The report of the review was published in the International Journal of Obesity. In the U.S., one in four babies is now born through a c-section.  C-sections have been tied to a variety of health issues in children... 

Studies have linked a serious complication to fertility treatments that use high doses of hormones to stimulate egg production.  Fertility treatments that rely on high doses of hormones are standard in the United States and the United Kingdom.  Fertility clinics in Europe and Japan have turned to a safer, low-dose form of IVF, even though the success rates for low-dose IVF are not as high. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a complication seen in some women who undergo fertility treatments... 

In 2005, Susan Wood resigned from her position as assistant commissioner for women’s health at the Food and Drug Administration because she was dismayed with the political forces that were delaying the efforts to make Plan B emergency contraceptive available without prescription. She rejoiced in 2009 when President Barack Obama signed a statement that said decisions in his administration would be based not on politics but on science. But at present, she’s frustrated with the administration when... 

  A new study claims that pregnant women who are exposed to secondhand smoke either at home or their workplace, are at increased risks of having stillborn babies or those with birth defects. Researchers from the University of Nottingham, led by Prof. Jo Leonardi-Bee of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies at the University, analyzed 19 previous studies that were undertaken at North America, South America, Asia, and Europe. The pregnant women who participated in the studies were non-smokers... 

Researchers say failure of IVF treatments in women has nothing to do with stress or anxiety that they face while going through the process. Stress was thought to play a significant role in failure for women to conceive naturally or by any assisted reproductive procedures, more because the process was time-consuming and expensive. Researchers are not denying that stress does contribute but researcher Jacky Boivin, PhD, a health psychologist at Cardiff University in Wales observes, “It could...