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Some mothers who smoke pot see it as a harmless remedy for everything from pain to postpartum depression. But doctors say the active ingredients in marijuana can be passed onto the baby and may affect developing nervous systems.
As a candidate, the president promised a ban on abortions that take place after 20 weeks and federal funding to Planned Parenthood, but Congress has not obliged. Still, other anti-abortion policy goals have been realized.
Infant mortality in some of the poorest ZIP codes in the United States rivals that of countries like war-torn Syria. Cuba, meanwhile, does a good job of keeping babies healthy on a tight budget. A team of Cuban health professionals recently spent time in Chicago helping peers there tackle the daunting problem.
For pregnant women in the United States, Medicaid is less a safety net than a building block of the maternity care system.
Because of the fears about devastating birth defects, carrying a child to term can be daunting for women in the commonwealth.
States are contemplating whether access to IUD through post-delivery procedures could be an important step in curbing unintended pregnancies.
Officials at the state exchange say they have fixed their computer system to stop switching some low-income pregnant women into Medi-Cal without their approval.
States are being asked to collect data on the deaths of pregnant women and new mothers to determine how to reduce maternal mortality rates.
Pregnancy questions included in many wellness program questionnaires hit a nerve, and advocates are asking the Obama administration to ban these types of queries as part of a pending Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rule.
Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader about whether the health law requires employer-sponsored insurance to cover maternity benefits for an employee's dependents.
The National Women's Law Center files complaints with HHS alleging that five institutions discriminate against women by excluding pregnancy coverage from the health insurance benefits that they provide to employees' daughters.
Although group health plans must cover workers or their spouses if they become pregnant, they don't have to extend that insurance to children.
Losing employment and group coverage during a pregnancy narrows consumers' health insurance options.
KHN's "Insuring Your Health" columnist Michelle Andrews answers a question from a reader about whether or not insurers are required to cover maternity care on the individual market.
Families buying insurance on their own often find that the plans do not cover any of the usual expenses associated with having a baby.
The new overhaul law says health plans should provide certain preventive services at no cost to patients. Women's advocates say that free contraceptives would reduce unwanted pregnancies, but opponents say birth control doesn't belong on the list of services, which is being developed by federal officials.
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