New Zealand has passed a landmark bill that treats abortion as a health issue rather than a crime, a major reform in laws that have been unchanged for more than four decades. The reform passed through parliament late on Wednesday by a vote of 68 ...
Scared of the deadly new coronavirus that has swept China, pregnant women and new mothers are giving birth alone, keeping their newborns inside the house and switching to pricier private hospitals to avoid the risk of infection. One new mother, surnamed Xie, gave birth to ...
Japanese dad tackles train etiquette with a badge to show he's willing to give up his seat
Scenario: You are congratulating yourself on having snagged a seat on a crowded, early morning Tokyo train, when out of the corner of your eye you spot a woman standing nearby who appears to be pregnant. You know you should offer her your seat, but ...
In world first, cancer patient has baby using egg frozen for years
In a world first, a woman who had been rendered infertile by cancer treatment gave birth after one of her eggs was matured, frozen and then — five years later — thawed and fertilized, researchers in France reported. A study in the journal Annals of ...
Indian Cabinet approves extending abortion deadline from 20 to 24 weeks
In a boost to female reproductive rights, India's Cabinet on Wednesday backed giving women more time to seek an abortion in a bill aimed at helping the young, disadvantaged and the raped. The government said the Cabinet had approved extending the abortion deadline to 24 ...
Japan group proposes expansion of pre-implantation diagnosis to spot inheritable diseases
The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology on Saturday proposed expanding the scope of cases where the use of pre-implantation diagnosis is permissible. At the first meeting of its ethics committee to include sociologists, patient support groups, and pediatrics and genetics doctors, the society proposed ...
It’s a boy! Christel Takigawa, wife of minister Shinjiro Koizumi, gives birth
Christel Takigawa, a freelance TV newscaster and wife of Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, gave birth to a boy early Friday morning. "I'm happy and reassured to say a healthy baby boy was born early today," Koizumi told members of the press Friday morning. "Thankfully, both ...
Japanese entrepreneur's baby monitor puts prenatal care online
Japan prides itself on having the world's lowest birth mortality rates for women and infants, but a decline in facilities staffed with obstetricians and gynecologists, as well as the advancing age of first-time mothers here, has raised growing doubts about the future of that ...
Hospital equipped with baby hatch in Kumamoto to introduce confidential birth program
Jikei Hospital in the city of Kumamoto, known for its "Konotori no Yurikago" (storks' cradle) baby hatch, will start a program allowing women to give birth while keeping their names secret, a senior official has said. The hospital decided on the move after making little ...
Clinical study on genetic screenings of fertilized eggs to involve several thousand women
About 3,500 women will take part in a drastically expanded clinical study on genetic screenings of fertilized eggs, the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology says.
Affluent single Chinese women seek sperm donors at overseas banks
Looking at page after page of childhood photos, "Xiaogunzhu" was drawn to an image of a French-Irish boy with smiling dark blue eyes. But she was not admiring his family album. She was browsing a catalog of potential sperm donors — the 39-year-old is one ...
Hot weather can cause a spike in the number of babies being born early, a phenomenon that may harm infant health and is likely to get worse as temperatures climb due to climate change, scientists said Monday. Researchers in California said an average of 25,000 ...
