The Uterus Update 🗞️
The Uterus Update 🗞️
Anti-ageing ovaries, IVF and air pollution – and Barbie's a gynae-fluencer 💖
It’s reproductive health round-up week here at Life, Almost. For new subscribers (hello!👋) I do one of these a month. I keep an eye out for interesting developments and findings relevant to reproductive health, pregnancy loss, fertility, and maternity care, then break them all down for you, in one handy place.
Let’s get into it.
In the news…
The ovaries are the only organ we accept will just stop working one day – but could they teach us key things about longevity? Researchers seem to think so… (New York Times)
Speaking of which, early results of an ongoing study suggest that the immunosuppressant drug rapamycin could extend the lifespan of the ovary – reducing the number of eggs lost each month – prolonging fertility, in what one scientist described as a ‘paradigm shift in biomedical research for women’. (Guardian)
The average age for women undergoing IVF for the first time is now 35.1 – the highest it’s been since records began, according to the HFEA’s Fertility Trends 2022 report. What this categorically doesn’t mean though is that ‘women are leaving it too late’ (for a full and angry explanation of why this interpretation in the media missed the mark, see here).
Perhaps more pressingly, the same report found that the proportion of IVF cycles funded by the NHS is at a record low, falling to 27 per cent across the UK in 2022. In 2012, it was 40 per cent of all cycles that were paid for by the health service. (HFEA)
Exposure to air pollution in the days before egg retrieval during IVF treatment is linked to a decreased chance of a live birth, according to a new study presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). (I know findings like this can be difficult to know what to do with, as air quality is something you have next-to-zero control over, as an individual – something I’ve written about in newsletters past. It’s yet another example of how fertility is a structural and political issue: indeed, earlier this year, ESHRE issued a warning to governments around the world that they need to act now on climate change and air pollution, given the effects on reproductive health.) (Guardian/EurekAlert)
The London Ambulance Service has introduced handmade ‘cuddle pockets’ to alleviate some of the trauma of miscarriage and enable bereaved parents to hold their baby after a loss. (The Standard)
We should test for gestational diabetes far earlier in pregnancy, international experts writing in The Lancet medical journal have suggested. They say gestational diabetes – which affects one in seven pregnancies – should be screened for from before 14 weeks rather than 24-28 weeks, as is current practice in the UK and many other countries around the world. This could significantly reduce complications later in pregnancy, their review of the evidence suggests. Sidenote: The accompanying editorial in The Lancet highlights that, as it stands, nobody is measuring how many women diagnosed with gestational diabetes receive adequate long-term care, as is recommended by international guidelines, to protect their future health. (Guardian/The Lancet)
A medical startup has raised $26 million to fund research and commercial roll-out of a new device that could help reduce the number of pre-term births. Novocuff’s invention is designed to help extend pregnancy, by stabilising the cervix and retaining amniotic fluid in cases of PPROM (preterm pre-labour rupture of membranes) and cervical shortening (when the cervix starts to open prematurely), both of which are causes of pregnancy loss. (
, Substack)Iowa’s near-total abortion ban came into force on Monday. (BBC)
Meanwhile, Texas’s abortion ban, introduced in 2021, may explain a subsequent 13 per cent rise in infant and newborn deaths, compared to a 2 per cent rise seen in the rest of the U.S., according to a new study published in JAMA Paediatrics. The Texas law has no exception for fatal foetal health complications diagnosed in pregnancy – and this study suggests we’re now seeing the consequences of this. The researchers behind the analysis said that this ‘might foreshadow what is happening in other states’ that have since brought in similar bans, as ‘Texas is basically a year ahead’. (NBC/JAMA Paediatrics)
An early pregnancy unit – with a separate entrance and exit for people experiencing pregnancy loss – opened earlier this month on the Isle of Man. The new space, designed by Vicky Christian who had multiple miscarriages herself, means people dealing with miscarriage news or early pregnancy complications will no longer have to sit in the same waiting room as other expectant people or enter via the maternity ward. Other hospitals, please take note! (Manx Radio)
The births of babies to Black mothers are almost twice as likely to be investigated for potential NHS safety failings, a Guardian analysis has found. (Guardian)
Flo became the first women’s health app to reach ‘unicorn’ status (startups valued at more than $1 billion). Fun fact: The cycle-tracking and health information app and now beacon of FemTech hope was…founded by two men.🤷🏻 (
, Substack)And finally…
In the week following the release of the Barbie film – which ends with the immortal line ‘I’m here to see my gynaecologist’ – there was around a 51 per cent increase in searches for ‘gynaecologist’ and ‘gynaecology’, and a 154 per cent increase for definition queries like ‘what does a gynaecologist do?’, according to research at McGill University in Montreal. (Go, Barbie, go, Barbie!) (CNN/ JAMA Network Open)
In case you missed it…
Is the whole concept of ‘leaving motherhood too late’ a figment of the popular imagination?
Last week’s discussion thread about our experiences of fertility tests.