Crisis in NHS maternity units revealed as 21 rated ‘substandard’

Care Quality Commission finds many services inadequate, needing improvement or shut over safety concerns

Test approved to detect preeclampsia, leading cause of US maternal deaths

FDA approves new test, which has been widely celebrated as a small victory in the fight to make childbirth safer in the US

What is Primodos and why were 100 UK families seeking compensation?

Concerns about birth defects first raised in 1960s but evidence for causal link to pregnancy test remains contentious

UK families lose bid for compensation over Primodos pregnancy test drug

High court rules there is insufficient new evidence of causal link between hormone-based test and birth defects

‘I didn’t even know men could get it’: the hidden impact of male postnatal depression

Postnatal depression affects up to 15% of new mothers, but studies suggest almost as many fathers also show symptoms – and little is being done to help them

Babies are dying because of NHS failings, poverty and inequality, charities warn

Maternity services need urgent improvement and investment to meet government target of halving stillbirths and neonatal deaths

Huesera: The Bone Woman review – bone breaking Mexican horror of post-partum depression

The anticipation Valeria feels about the approaching birth of her first child slowly turns into a sense of real fear

British Black women die in childbirth at an appalling rate. I’m tired of fighting a racist system in vain

Fixing this will require systemic change that goes way beyond healthcare, says author Candice Brathwaite

At long last, some recognition of the pain after childbirth. Why is women’s suffering so ignored?

Research shows opioid painkillers are unlikely to harm breastfed babies – but history shows how often women have had to sacrifice their own health, says historian Agnes Arnold-Foster

‘I kept begging for pain relief’: the women forced to give birth without gas and air

Some hospitals are suspending supplies of gas and air, after it was found to pose health risks to midwives. What can be done to ensure pregnant women still get the help they need?