By Dr Nathan Hodson The UK has introduced the world’s first bereavement leave for people bereaved by abortion. I have described this in my new article in BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health, titled “The UK Government Created Statutory Bereavement Leave for Abortions After 24 Weeks and Should Acknowledge It”. In this blog I want to […]
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What were patients’ experiences of trying to access sexual and reproductive health services during the early months of the COVID-19?
By Raquel Boso Perez, David Reid and Kirstin Mitchell Access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services are imperative, even during pandemics such as COVID-19, when physical distancing measures are deemed necessary. We set up the Natsal-COVID study to understand the impact of service reduction and reconfiguration in Britain in response to COVID-19. Findings from […]
Are You Listening? Black Voices on Contraception Choice and Access to Sexual Health Services
By Dr Shardia Briscoe-Palmer Ten new videos launch this month, highlighting the views and experiences of Black people when accessing sexual and reproductive health services. The videos are available on the Contraception Choices website. The videos were produced by Dr Shardia Briscoe-Palmer (project researcher) in collaboration with Dr Julia Bailey from the University College London […]
What are the determinants of FGM at an individual, family, and community level?
By Zeinab El Dirani, Ubah Ali and Stephen J. McCall The act of damaging or removing female genital organs without a medical reason is known as female genital mutilation (FGM). It is performed by specific ethnicities, mainly in African countries, but also in Yemen, Iraq, Indonesia, and the Maldives.1 Religious, social norms and cultural beliefs […]
When Basic Information is Not Enough: The Case for Expanding Ireland’s Abortion Helpline
By Dr Lorraine Grimes, Aideen O’Shaughnessy, Dr. Rachel Roth, Anna Carnegie and Dr Deirdre Duffy In 2018, the people of Ireland voted to remove the Eighth Amendment from the Irish Constitution, lifting the ban on abortion. This made way for legislation, and legal abortion became available from January 2019. An information and support helpline called […]
UK medical students’ perspectives on their abortion teaching
By Dr Corrina Horan Abortion is a very common gynaecological procedure, with an estimated 1 in 3 women undergoing an abortion in mainland UK within their reproductive lifetime. Despite the common nature of abortion, it is a subject surrounded by stigma – a US study found that the majority of people, 1 week following an […]
Telemedicine abortion in Italy: before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
By Dr Karin Brandell In Italy, abortion is legal up to 90 days of pregnancy but with restrictions that pose barriers to the service, including widespread conscientious objection and an obligatory waiting period of 7 days. Italy was one of the first countries hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with multiple restrictions imposed on the public […]
AGREE II is an agreeable, accessible tool to assess the quality of trans and gender minority clinical practice guidelines
By Sara Dahlen, Dean Connolly, Isra Arif, Muhammad Hyder Junejo, Susan Bewley and Catherine Meads Doctors trying to help their patients are bombarded with too much and often conflicting information. Well-developed clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) can help busy practitioners ground their real-world frontline care in properly considered, best available knowledge gained from high quality research. […]
Menstrual blood: no longer just a waste product
By Dr. Sara Naseri, Dr. Ryan Brewster and Professor Paul D. Blumenthal For decades, glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) has been the diagnostic and prognostic standard for primary management of diabetes mellitus (DM).1 It serves as an index of long-term glycemic control and a predictive indicator of preventable micro- and macrovascular complications, making routine monitoring an essential […]
Abortion Bereavement Leave is Part of Abortion Care
By Dr Nathan Hodson Last week, changes to the bereavement policy for employees at the City of Portland, Oregon, emerged. Under the new bereavement leave policy, employees of the city government are eligible for bereavement leave following pregnancy loss, and pregnancy loss is defined broadly to include termination of pregnancy. This reflects a striking evolution […]