Top in women’s health: Drop in births, fertility and prenatal care; fetal antigen test

From 2022 to 2023, U.S. birth and fertility rates dropped while the percentage of women receiving no prenatal care rose, according to a report from the CDC.

The general fertility in the U.S. decreased by 3% and the number of births fell by 2%, according to the CDC.

“The decreasing fertility and birth rates over the past few years is not surprising in the context of the economy and the socioeconomic implications of having children,” Malini Nijagal, MD, MPH, an obstetrician and gynecologist with UCSF Health and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, told Healio.

Further, the percentage of women who did not receive prenatal care rose by 5%, increasing from 2.2% in 2022 and 2.3% in 2023.

“The decline in prenatal care access can certainly be explained with the steady increase in maternity care deserts, but I also think is reflective of the overall reduced access to reproductive health care services,” Nijagal told Healio

It was the top story in women’s health last week.

In another top story, researchers found that prenatal cell-free DNA analyses had a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 100% for detecting fetal antigen status in women with alloimmunized pregnancies.

Read these and more top stories in women’s health below:

CDC: Birth rates falling, with fewer women receiving prenatal care

In the U.S., birth and general fertility rates dropped while the percentage of women receiving no prenatal care rose from 2022 to 2023, according to a recent CDC birth trends report. Read more.

Single cell-free DNA test accurately detects fetal antigen status in alloimmunized women

Cell-free DNA analyses accurately detected fetal antigen status as early as 10 weeks’ gestation in women with alloimmunized pregnancies, according to results of a large, diverse U.S. cohort study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Read more.

Messaging strategies increase support for, intentions of breast cancer screening cessation

Among older women, messaging strategies significantly increased support for and intention to stop breast cancer screening, with the strongest effects occurring when messages were delivered over time from multiple sources, data show. Read more.

Congenital syphilis rising in US, tied to preterm birth, hospital stay, costs

Congenital syphilis rates in the U.S. rose from 2016 to 2020, with researchers reporting links to preterm birth, longer hospital length of stay and higher costs with race/ethnicity, insurance, income, admission year and hospital characteristics tied to likelihood. Read more.

Labor duration tied to adverse outcomes during second-trimester medication abortion

Labor duration was independently associated with risks for adverse maternal outcomes, specifically intraamniotic infection, during second-trimester medication abortion, according to study results published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Read more.