4 d. ago Death of Irish mother in ‘free birth’ reveals how poor maternity care is pushing women towards extreme influencers

Women in Ireland and the UK linked to Free Birth Society among scores around world to have suffered loss or serious harm after birthsFull story: How the FBS is linked to baby deaths around the worldOver a weekend in late June 2024, Emilee Saldaya, the leader of the Free Birth Society, hosted a festival on her 21-hectare (53-acre) property in North Carolina. It was a celebratory gathering for FBS, a multimillion-dollar business that promotes a radical approach to giving birth without medical support.Promotional footage from the Matriarch Rising festival shows Saldaya dancing beside her private lake, wearing a crown. That same weekend, more than 3,000 miles away, in Dundalk, a town on the east coast of Ireland, Naomi James, bled to death after freebirthing her son. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Charlotte Crosby details the pressure to 'bounce back' after pregnancy as she feared being 'forgotten' by the TV industry after welcoming second child

The Geordie Shore star, 36, and fiancé Jake Ankers, 34, welcomed their second daughter, Pixi, in February and are already parents to two-year-old daughter Alba.

Events

1 week ago Louise Thompson reveals she's bed bound while battling a new health problem

The former Made In Chelsea star, 35, now campaigns for women's health and maternity rights, nearly died giving birth to her son Leo in 2021.

Events

1 week ago NHS directed pregnant women to controversial Free Birth Society via charity

Exclusive: NHS websites pointed women to factsheet featuring podcast by ‘dangerous’ influencers linked to baby deaths• Full story: How the FBS is linked to baby deaths around the worldThe NHS has been directing pregnant women to a website that connected them to the Free Birth Society, an organisation that has been linked to baby deaths around the world after promoting labour without medical support.A number of NHS trusts are directing women who are contemplating a “free birth” to a charity website that until Monday referred to FBS podcasts as a source of “empowering stories” that can help British women “preparing for their own birth”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Five key findings from our investigation into the Free Birth Society

Year-long investigation into multimillion-dollar business exposed serious concerns, from dangerous medical claims to FBS-linked stillbirths• Full story: How the FBS is linked to baby deaths around the worldThe Free Birth Society (FBS) is a business run from North Carolina that promotes the idea of women giving birth without midwives or doctors present.It is led by Emilee Saldaya and Yolande Norris-Clark, ex-doulas turned social media influencers who have gained a global following through the FBS podcast, which has been downloaded millions of times. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Born in the forest: the women giving birth alone in the Kashmiri mountains

Far from hospitals, nomadic Gujjar women routinely go into labour – and die – on their herder communities’ long seasonal treksDawn had just broken across the trail through the Pir Panjal mountains when Fatima Deader felt the first labour pains. She and her family had almost reached the midway point of their 134 mile (215km) trek from Rajouri in Jammu to Kashmir’s higher pastures. Mist clung to the forest, and the ground was slick beneath the feet of the caravan of about 70 pastoralists who had stopped to camp together the previous night.A week from her due date, she had been travelling on horseback and assumed the discomfort she felt was fatigue – until pain tore through her body. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago African countries boost family planning funding in ‘shift from dependency’ after aid cuts

Zambia, Zimbabwe and DRC take steps to protect decades of progress in reproductive health, as donor fatigue leads to steep cuts in aidAfrican governments are boosting funding for family planning programmes as cuts in foreign aid threaten decades of reproductive health progress and access to birth control for millions of women and girls.Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are the latest countries to announce increased budgets for family planning supplies and services. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Three countries boost family planning funding in ‘powerful shift from dependency’ in Africa after aid cuts

Zambia, Zimbabwe and DRC take steps to protect decades of progress in reproductive health, as donor fatigue leads to steep cuts in aidSeveral African governments are boosting funding for family planning programmes as cuts in foreign aid threaten decades of reproductive health progress and access to birth control for millions of women and girls.Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are the latest to announce increased budgets for family planning supplies and services. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago ‘For the women who gave birth in the dark’: a portrait of motherhood in Gaza

Diana Shams wrote a book because ‘no one explains how to carry your baby through fire, hunger and fear – and still sing to her at bedtime’She used to worry about screen time. She used to fret over sugar. She used to dwell on what cartoon character might be the right one to put on her son’s next birthday cake.“I thought being a mother meant sleepless nights, picky eaters, school runs, messy rooms and too much laundry,” writes the author Diana Shams. “I used to think motherhood was hard.” Continue reading...

Politics