maternal mortality: still a thing

• This Juneteenth we are looking at the women's health studies cut by the Trump administration that focus on Black women, who are far more likely to die from childbirth and cancer in America than white women. These included AI tools to flag maternal mortality risk, studies on cervical cancer deaths, and why Alzheimer’s hits Black women harder.
   
  • 🔥 These stories should’ve been headlines, but they've gone mostly uncovered for months. If you want more reporting like this, one click could make the difference. 🔥
     
• The EU approved an at-home spit test as a contraceptive, which the company argues is more accurate than body temperature readings.
   
• Menopause can be funny, as proven by a hit sitcom in Canada. 

-- Over $2 million from study in New York that aimed to reduce maternal deaths, especially among minority women, by building AI tools and addressing systemic drivers of maternal health disparities

-- Over $847,000 from a study investigating why Black women are more likely to die from cervical cancer

-- Over $741,000 from a study focused on older Black women, who are nearly twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as white women, and how stress, diabetes, and lack of access to care may speed up memory loss

Psychology + Gynecology: A Review of Pain Management Strategies

What: This is a formal overview of strategies to treat chronic gynecological pain, covering conditions like dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, vulvodynia, and chronic pelvic pain. It specifically focuses on the intersection of psychology and gynecology.

Key Line: "The available evidence encourages the combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness techniques, and digital therapeutics to improve pain management and overall quality of life for women with chronic gynecological pain."

Source: Cureus
 

At-Home Spit Test Now Certified as Contraceptive in EU

What: An at-home spit test measuring hormone levels has been certified as a contraceptive in the EU, offering women a non-invasive birth control option. The test tracks hormonal changes over the menstrual cycle and provides a personalized contraceptive plan based on the results. It is approved for prescription use.

Key Line: "Key competitors like Natural Cycles – which, in 2017, became the EU’s first certified contraceptive app – rely on temperature readings to track hormonal levels. But Rapti said saliva, as “hardcore biological data,” is more accurate because it isn’t affected by, for example, having a fever or working up a sweat."

Source: Euronews via MSN
 

Abortion Before Roe

What: NPR dives into the history of abortion access in the United States, explaining how it was a normal occurrence in colonial America. What changed? A group of male doctors in the 1800s wanted to make abortion their domain, and theirs alone.

Key Line: "Led by a zealous young doctor named Horatio Storer, they launched a campaign to make abortion illegal in every state, spreading a potent cloud of moral righteousness and racial panic that one historian later called "the physicians' crusade." And so began the century of criminalization."

Source: NPR

Menopause: It's Funny

What: The New York Times profiles veteran comedians Meredith MacNeill and Jennifer Whalen about their hit sitcom, airing in Canada, that is all about menopause. The show tracks two Gen X women as they navigate the challenges of this phase of life.

Key Line: "“Small Achievable Goals” — or “SAG,” as the women appropriately call it — deftly strikes the balance between raucous comedy and heart-rending poignancy as an unlikely work partnership unfolds between polar opposites whose hormones have gone haywire, amid an office full of bewildered young millennials and zoomers."

Source: New York Times