News

A team of UK researchers has published a new study examining how middle-aged, middle-class British women describe the effects of regular open water swimming on their wellbeing, including its impact on menopause symptoms and mental health. The University of East London research uses in-depth interviews to understand women’s own accounts of swimming in outdoor water and [...]

Ultromics, a developer of AI-driven cardiology solutions, has announced an investment from the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Venture Fund, a fund within American Heart Association Ventures (the venture capital programme of the American Heart Association). The funding will support Ultromics’ mission to make early identification of heart failure a standard part of [...]

Wales has opened its first women's health research centre, backed by £3m to tackle health inequalities through research and innovation. The centre, led by Women's Health Research Wales, marks the first anniversary of the Women's Health Plan for Wales, published in December 2024. First minister Eluned Morgan and minister for mental health and wellbeing Sarah [...]

Early pregnancy therapy can cut postpartum depression and anxiety by tackling prenatal anxiety, new research has revealed. A trial of 1,200 pregnant women in Pakistan found those receiving cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a talking therapy that changes patterns of thought and behaviour, had 81 per cent lower odds of postpartum depression or moderate-to-severe anxiety than [...]

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced the forthcoming "maternal morbidity indicator system" in its formal response to the Health and Social Care Committee's recent report on black maternal health. The system will collect data on complications in the care and treatment of pregnant women and babies, and analyse patterns. Insights will help [...]

Football injuries during periods are more severe and take longer to heal, though menstruation does not itself raise injury rates, according to new research. The study monitored 33 elite players competing in Spain's top women's football league over four seasons, from 2019/20 to 2022/23, tracking self-reported menstrual cycle data alongside injury records. The research was [...]

Flex partners with Clue to make Clue Plus eligible for HSA and FSA spending in the US, letting users pay for menstrual health tools with pre-tax funds. HSAs and FSAs are US pre-tax accounts for eligible health costs. Announced on 16 December 2025, the move makes Clue Plus available via these benefits, with Flex citing [...]

Pregnant women who received a Covid-19 vaccine were far less likely to experience severe illness or deliver prematurely, according to a major new study. The research, drawing on data from nearly 20,000 pregnancies across Canada, found that vaccination was strongly associated with lower risks of hospitalisation, intensive care admission and preterm birth. Preterm birth means [...]

A combination of THC and CBD derived from cannabis was shown to kill ovarian cancer cells without harming healthy cells in laboratory studies. The findings suggest that drugs made from these compounds could be developed to fight ovarian cancer in future, though researchers caution that much more work is needed before results can be translated [...]

The risk of women in England suffering severe post-birth bleeding has risen to its highest level in five years, prompting fresh concerns about NHS maternity care. The rate of postpartum haemorrhage, where a mother loses a dangerous amount of blood after delivery, has increased from 27 per 1,000 births in 2020 to 32 per 1,000 [...]