Children's Health

Finland's government, led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin, announced it will extend family leave for both parents to nearly seven months. Marin is seen here arriving at an EU summit in Brussels in December.

Finland's Women-Led Government Has Equalized Family Leave: 7 Months For Each Parent

2:52pm February 05, 2020

by Laurel Wamsley

Under the new policy, families are entitled to a total 14 months of paid leave. The health minister says the goal is to both improve gender equality and boost a declining birth rate.

This image from an electron microscope shows a cross-sectional view of an oligodendrocyte (blue) among nerve fibers coated with myelin (dark red). In models of autism spectrum disorder, oligodendrocytes appear to create too much or too little myelin.

Researchers Link Autism To A System That Insulates Brain Wiring

5:45pm February 03, 2020

by Jon Hamilton

Brains affected by autism appear to share a problem with cells that make myelin, the insulating coating surrounding nerve fibers that controls the speed at which the fibers convey electrical signals.

Making sure to frequently give your hands a thorough scrub — with soap and for about as long as it takes to sing the "Happy Birthday" song a couple of times — can significantly cut your chances of catching the flu or other respiratory virus.

Worried About Catching The New Coronavirus? In The U.S., Flu Is A Bigger Threat

8:02pm January 29, 2020

by Allison Aubrey

At least 8,000 people have died from the flu in the U.S. this season. The good news: Easy steps you can take now to protect against the flu may also help you steer clear of the new coronavirus.

Roughly 1 in 10 infants were born prematurely in the U.S. in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The drug Makena is widely prescribed to women at high risk of going into labor early, though the latest research suggests the m

Drug To Prevent Premature Birth Divides Doctors, Insurers And FDA Experts

11:23am January 24, 2020

by Emmarie Huetteman

An expert panel convened by the FDA says the drug Makena should be withdrawn from the market because a review of its effectiveness shows it doesn't work. But OB-GYNS who prescribe the drug disagree.

A light micrograph of a primitive human embryo, composed of four cells, following the initial mitotic divisions that ultimately transform a single-cell organism into one composed of millions of cells.

Embryo Research To Reduce Need For In Vitro Fertilization Raises Ethical Concerns

9:10pm January 15, 2020

by Rob Stein

Aiming to find a cheaper, easier way than IVF to ensure human embryos are healthy before implantation, researchers paid women to be inseminated, then flushed the embryos from their wombs for analysis.

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The dormitory in an orphanage in Vietnam.

Is It Wrong To Volunteer At An Orphanage?

4:36pm January 13, 2020

by Joanne Lu

There's a growing global outcry over what critics call ''orphanage tourism." But some charities are proponents of volunteering in orphanages.

Two women who were sexually abused as children say the Jehovah's Witnesses failed to report their abuser to authorities in Montana and instead expelled him from the congregation as punishment until he repented. Pictured, in 2015, is a sign atop the then-w

Montana Court Reverses $35 Million Child Abuse Verdict Against Jehovah's Witnesses

6:11pm January 09, 2020

by Merrit Kennedy

The unanimous Montana Supreme Court decision found that religious institutions are not always obligated to report child sexual abuse to authorities due to an exemption in Montana state law.

Student demonstrators cheered in 2015 outside the Supreme Court after learning that the high court had upheld the Affordable Care Act as law of the land. But Republican foes of the federal health law are still working to have it struck down.

Stakes High For Democrats And Republicans In Bid To Rush ACA To Supreme Court

5:00am January 08, 2020

by Julie Rovner

Both sides say they want the high court to quickly weigh in on a case that could invalidate the federal health law. Whatever the court decides will likely have consequences in 2020 elections.

Author Peggy Orenstein's new book, Boys & Sex, is based on extensive interviews with more than 100 college and college-bound boys and young men across the U.S. between the ages of 16 and 22 on intimacy, consent and navigating masculinity. They spanned a b

'Boys & Sex' Reveals That Young Men Feel 'Cut Off From Their Hearts'

5:51pm January 07, 2020

by Terry Gross

Author Peggy Orenstein spoke to more than 100 young men of diverse backgrounds about sex, porn, gender and intimacy. Boys, she found, often lack "permission or space" to discuss their interior lives.

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The Rajasthan government tweeted out a photo of its minister of health Dr. Raghu Sharma on a visit to inspect J.K. Lon Maternal and Child hospital in Kota, where nearly 100 infants died in December.

Health & Safety

Over 900 Infants Died In One Hospital In India In 2019. What Went Wrong?

3:56pm January 07, 2020

by Kamala Thiagarajan

In December 10 children died within a 48-hour period — and that story made nationwide headlines. Politicians are casting blame — and the government is investigating.