what the birthrate isn't telling you

Here are the most interesting items we saw this week in women's health:

📊 The U.S. birthrate fell again - but the story is more complicated than that. Demographers say women aren't opting out of motherhood, they're postponing it: today's 45-year-olds are actually more likely to be mothers than their counterparts 20 years ago.

🔬 Most cancer patients never got the test that could change their treatment. A study of around 63,000 patients with advanced cancers found most never received genomic tumor testing, even though those tests can point doctors to targeted therapies. Among metastatic breast cancer patients, only about a third were tested after diagnosis. The gaps tracked by income, coverage type, and race.

💊 The federal family planning program no longer mentions contraception - except to call it overprescribed. The Trump administration issued new guidance for Title X that promotes "natural family planning" methods like period tracking apps, which have higher failure rates than hormonal birth control. It’s another attempt to get Planned Parenthood out of the program.

TOP CLICKED STORIES THIS WEEK

Women in Their 20s May Not Be Having Babies, but by 45 Most Probably Will // The New York Times

Trends and Disparities in the Use of Next-Generation Sequencing in Patients With Cancer in the United States // JAMA Network Open

Women with diabetes less likely to receive preventive care and some screenings // UCLA Health

As Florida restricted abortion, state's maternal mortality committee went dark // WLRN

Doctors Couldn't Help Them. They Rolled the Dice With A.I. // New York Times

Patients’ Bill of Rights To Lower Health Care Costs // Center for American Progress