1 in 6

October 22, 2026

Tonight: menopause symptoms without prescriptions, a familiar pill’s other job in the delivery room, and the years women spend caring for everyone else.

— Meghan McCarthy

Nearly half of U.S. women ages 40 to 60, about 16.7 million, reported menopause symptoms in the preceding year, according to 2025 federal survey data the CDC released Tuesday. Symptoms were most common at ages 52 to 55, when two-thirds reported them. But only 15.6% of women with symptoms were currently taking a prescription medication for them. Among symptomatic women ages 44 to 47, fewer than 1 in 10 were. The analysis excluded women who were pregnant, postpartum, or in surgical menopause. Both the American College of Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued guidelines this month recommending hormone therapy for hot flashes and night sweats.

Three senators want the FDA’s plan for fixing estrogen patch supply problems that have persisted over the past year. In a letter dated Tuesday, Democratic Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Tammy Duckworth, and Adam Schiff wrote that nearly 20 patch formulations have been affected, leaving some women stretching doses, splitting patches, or stopping therapy altogether. The FDA hasn’t listed the patches in its official shortage database, though it says it is working with manufacturers and expediting reviews to increase supply. “Passive monitoring and generic advice fail to adequately mitigate a nationwide manufacturing deficit,” the senators wrote. They want answers by Nov. 16, including whether the agency anticipated the demand surge before announcing changes to hormone therapy’s boxed warnings last November.

Mifepristone, best known for its role in medication abortion, could also help more women deliver without a C-section. A review in Obstetrics & Gynecology examined 15 randomized trials involving around 1,900 women undergoing labor induction at 37 weeks or later. Women given mifepristone had about one-third lower odds of a C-section: 33% delivered by C-section, compared with 42% in the comparison groups, which included placebo. Inductions were also shorter and required less additional medication. In the minority of trials that reported these safety outcomes, researchers found no differences in postpartum hemorrhage, neonatal intensive care admissions, or low five-minute Apgar scores, a measure of newborn babies’ health shortly after birth.

Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh, passed a law requiring certain employers give employees 12 weeks of paid parental leave. County Executive Sara Innamorato signed it into law Thursday after the council approved it Tuesday night. The policy covers eligible birthing and non-birthing parents at employers with 15 or more employees, including after a stillbirth. Employers will pay the benefits and have roughly a year to implement the changes. Nurses at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital helped lead the push after seeing parents return to work while their babies were still in intensive care, The 19th reports. The U.S. still has no nationwide guarantee of paid parental leave.

American women can expect to spend about seven years of their adult lives caring for an older relative or friend, a University of Michigan study estimates. That’s up from about six years in 2011. Men’s time spent caring for elders held steady at about four years. The projections assume caregiving rates measured in 2023 continue. Women and men were expected to spend similar amounts of time caring for a spouse or partner. But women faced more years caring for parents, grandparents, and others, and more years providing every category of help studied: personal care, household tasks, transportation, and medical care. The researchers say the gap may widen as older adults need more care and more age without close family.