![two daughters and mother smiling at camera outside on white bridge wearing black](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Mother-Daughters-Smiling-Water-Bridge.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=srLLPXK7)
Health Lab
Study finds that physician parents often turn down career-advancing opportunities and aren’t comfortable discussing work-family conflicts with leaders. How pandemic-era changes may help.
![William Brown](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/2023-01/Brown_William_MichiganAnswers_Mott%20VVWH%202%203000x1688.jpg?h=8f9cfe54&itok=vwa7Bg4k)
Michigan Answers
Kristi Brown’s first pregnancy had been going even better than she hoped. But at week 20, an ultrasound revealed unexpected news: her baby had spina bifida.
![stethoscope drawing in blue ink on lined paper with yellow badge in bottom corner in blue font saying lab note](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Lab_notes_general_doctor_badge_yellow_0.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=GR1BZpbT)
Health Lab
For low-income pregnant patients, health insurance disruptions may make it less likely that they receive recommended prenatal and postpartum care.
![Parents holding new baby](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/parents_holding_new_baby.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=6YuM4phR)
Health Lab
After welcoming their son, couple helps Michigan Medicine launch first peer mentor program for same sex couples expecting babies through surrogacy.
![pregnant woman on bus with child](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/pregnant_women_on_bus_with_child.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=T4AVUzRI)
Health Lab
None of the COVID-19 vaccines have been studied specifically in pregnant or breastfeeding individuals. An expert addresses top questions.
![young mother holding head with child in background](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/young_mother_feeling_pressure_from_having_child.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=f5hYOQr_)
Health Lab
Study finds prevalence of suicidal thoughts and self-harm among childbearing women nearly doubled over a decade, with an estimated 24,000 individuals at potential suicide risk.
![Transgender insurance hormonal items](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Transgender_insurance_hormonal_items.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=SVETpiZK)
Health Lab
Study finds that nearly 170,000 people who are transgender access hormones from friends, online or other non-licensed sources, which poses health and safety risks.
![Woman hands opening birth control pills](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Woman_hands_opening_birth_control_pills.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=UX4Ijg7F)
Health Lab
Affordable Care Act’s elimination of out-of-pocket costs for contraception was associated with fewer births, especially among low income families.
![black background baby in red placenta with red spot at top signaling something is wrong](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/Placenta_promblems_baby_in_womb.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=DF2610xs)
Health Lab
Problems with her placenta inspired physician Courtney Townsel to specialize in helping others understand the high risk pregnancy conditions that impact this vital organ.
![Pregnant women in hospital gown in a hospital room](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/pregnant_women_in_hospital_gown.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=9LgMjl_b)
Health Lab
In states with expanded Medicaid eligibility, pregnant people were more likely to have continuous health care insurance around the time of pregnancy.
![](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/oembed_thumbnails/ZntA3wk4--asEWoYX8hu7O38WwgBMCiHL81TkGAPbCg.jpg?h=144d094f&itok=rSAlP-e2)
Health Lab
The Luke Clinic brings free prenatal and obstetric services to individuals in need.
![](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/oembed_thumbnails/rAR38Eu80HJOfOpjYUKxQwBiTC3VOIa-i1op58Us3Lg.jpg?h=144d094f&itok=0rNgTH69)
Health Lab
Conjoined twins attached at the chest and abdomen recently underwent successful separation surgery at Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
![husband and wife with newborn](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/husband_and_wife_with_newborn.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=2p8-F8xV)
Health Lab
Bobby and Michele Johnson thought they had plenty of time, but then labor advanced quickly – and baby Jack was born in their car outside the hospital entrance.
![Women holding hands on lower front torso with pain](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/women_holding_hands_on_lower_front_torso_pain.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=9FahmXDo)
Health Lab
Sixty to sixty-five percent of women develop fibroids by age 50. While common, they’re often not discussed.
![drawing of pink uterus with white fibroid spots on a light purple background](https://www.michiganmedicine.org/sites/default/files/styles/card/public/blog/fibroids_0.jpg?h=bfaa3d24&itok=iRfERaWm)
Health Lab
Black women are hit hardest by fibroids, diagnosed roughly three times as frequently as white women and with more severe symptoms.