Itβs fertility news week here at Life, Almost. If youβre new here, I do one of these a month (hello, by the way! π). I try to keep an eye out for interesting stories, developments, and research findings relevant to reproductive health and deliver them to you here, in one handy β and hopefully unstressful β scroll. Paying subscribers also get a voicenote from me about the round-up, which this week includes two bonus pieces of good news.
Letβs get into it.
In the newsβ¦
Having a Covid-19 vaccination prior to conception does not raise the risk of miscarriage β including early miscarriage before 8 weeks β a new study at Boston University School of Public Health has shown. This was the case for women and for their male partners, at any time before conception. (EurekAlert/ Human Reproduction)
Hormonal changes that βrewireβ the brain in preparation for parenting may happen earlier in pregnancy than scientists thought β although this is a from a study in mice and not humans (π¨) itβs suggested that this could lead to new insights in postpartum depression and psychosis. (Guardian)
Single women should not have to self-fund numerous rounds of artificial insemination before they qualify for NHS fertility treatment, say fertility equity campaigners. (Sky News)
Poor or unavailable maternal health care post-Dobbs is having a chilling effect on young womenβs decisions to have children β whether they live in U.S. states where abortion is banned or not, a new survey has found. (Politico)
65 per cent of UK maternity services have been rated as unsafe by an official report. (The Independent)
β¦and bereaved parents are calling for a national public inquiry into maternity care in the UK. If you havenβt already, do consider signing the petition here. (Change.org)
Same-sex couples will no longer have to go through additional screening during IVF, the UK government has promised (though no firm timeline has been given). Β (BioNews)
Cervical cancer could be eradicated by 2040, according to NHS England. (BBC)
Infant deaths in the U.S. have risen for the first time in 20 years. (New York Times)
The UK fertility regulator has updated its rating system for treatment βadd-onsβ β such as immunological tests or assisted hatching for IVF β to give patients more detailed (and unbiased) information on what the evidence shows about success rates and impact on miscarriage risk. Treatments are given an at-a-glance rating, colour-coded from green β to red π¨. (BBC/HFEA)
As per last weekβs newsletter, British police are testing women whoβve had miscarriages for abortion drugs. (The Independent)
Survival rates of premature babies born at 22 weeks have trebled since 2019, when new UK guidelines were introduced that made βsurvival-focused careβ (such as respiratory support) an option when babies are born this early. (iNews/ BMJ Medicine)
An editorial in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet has called for a re-assessment of the 14-day limit on keeping embryos created for research purposes. For more on why changing this limit is potentially important for preventing miscarriage and increasing IVF success rates, see previous newsletter editions. (Or **coughs sheepishly** Chapter 2 of a certain book). (The Lancet)
And finallyβ¦
Female frogs fake their own death to escape unwanted male attention. πΈ π (Guardian)
Until next week,
Thanks for the updates Jennie! Really interesting to have a peruse through all the news
As someone who experienced five miscarriages during Covid, four of which happened after the vaccine came out, Iβm relieved to know that wasnβt a factor. I wasnβt really worried about it because I knew the vaccine was important to protect a future pregnancy from the virus. But itβs reassuring to finally have the data. Thanks for sharing, Jennie!