Reproductive Health - The Persistent

Reproductive Health

Chronic Stress From Racism Makes Pregnancy More Dangerous for Black Women

New research from the University of Cambridge shows how chronic stress linked to racism and inequality may trigger physiological changes in the body and increase risk during pregnancy.

Health

Menopause Can Make You Better at Your Job. Now There’s a Thought.

Support for menopause at work isn’t just a nice thing to do. It’s an economic imperative.

Health

Are You a Working Woman In Midlife? This One's For You.

A new wave of menopause-related research is revealing just how much menopause can affect women's working lives. And it's not all bad.

Black and white photo of an old hospital nursery, with newborns in little bassinets arranged in rows.

Reproductive Rights

'It Is Time to Reflect On Whether Or Not to Have a Child'—Oh, Boy.

In its efforts to combat infertility, France is missing the point. That's because a decision to have a child isn't just a medical issue, it's a social one, too.

A woman is silhouetted against a blue background as she peers into a microscope.

Infertility

IVF Makes More Boys. Now We Understand Why

New research suggests the way embryos are scored might be favoring boys.

An illustration of a pregnant person holding a medicine capsule.

Reproductive Health

Expectant Mothers Deserve More Options Than Just ‘Toughing It Out’

The swirl of misinformation around Tylenol and pregnancy points to a bigger problem: An overall reluctance to include pregnant women in medical research.

Reproductive Health

Reactions to the Trump Administration's Claims About Tylenol, Vaccines and Autism

'These things should not be really questioned,' the World Health Organization said. Other agencies and foundations weighed in.

A photo illustration shows a scattered collection of packets of the pill, depicted in bright colors.

Reproductive Health

The Popularity of the Pill Is Plummeting—at the Exact Moment It Shouldn’t Be

Birth control gave women control over their bodies, their careers and their futures. A cultural campaign against the pill risks rolling all this back.

An illustration of three pregnant women holding interventional medical devices and medicines

Reproductive Health

How Do We Make Birth Better?

Little has changed in the way we bring humans into the world since the popularization of the cesarean section in the 1960s. It’s 2025. What is going on?

A stylized illustration of three test tubes. There is also a tampon drawn to look like a test tube.

Reproductive Health

Menstrual Blood Is Having a Moment

When it comes to medical diagnoses and health markers, period blood is something of a superpower. We should leverage it.

Black and white image of Lily Collins in a sparkly dress and her husband Charlie McDowell in a three-piece suit.

Infertility

Everyone Has Their View on Surrogacy. Few Actually Understand It.

When Lily Collins announced her child had been born via surrogate, the judgments and criticisms were swift and brutal. Many were just plain wrong.

Illustration: a framed picture of a black woman's pregnancy bump, with flowers and a candle on top of a stack of case files.

U.S. Election 2024

Two Years On, The Biden-Harris Effort To Reduce Maternal Mortality Remains—A Start

Maternal mortality is shockingly high in the U.S. What exactly is being done about it?

A black and white crackled painting of a woman's head from behind.

Reproductive Health

How Did Medical Birth Trauma in the U.K. Become So 'Normal'?

Women share their stories of birth trauma in a new U.K. report. When did shockingly bad maternity care become the norm?