Gina Conley, an Army veteran in Aberdeen, North Carolina, knew she wanted a low-intervention birth for her first child. But her plan started to go off the rails as soon as she got to the hospital.

“Everything that I did not want to happen had happened,” she said. “And I just remember that feeling of being just so utterly defeated.”

Her...Read more

What are two of the most important ways to keep your baby safe when they sleep and help them grow and develop when they're awake? This pair of simple daily habits can make a big difference: placing your baby on their back to sleep and giving them supervised tummy time when they're awake.

Healthy babies are safest when sleeping on their backs, ...Read more

At least 14 people have died in Cook County this summer from heat-related causes, with July marking the area’s deadliest month for heat-related deaths in more than a decade, according to data from the medical examiner’s office. Successive heat waves in late June and early-to-mid-July this year pushed the heat index, a combination of ...Read more

Kids and candy are a classic pairing. From trick-or-treating to Easter baskets, to local parades and birthday parties, it can feel like kids are almost always bringing home another bag of treats. But while these holidays and events may be exciting for kids, they often end with parents dreading what comes next: negotiations around how much ...Read more

Hospital units dedicated to treating the nation’s sickest kids are disappearing nationwide. In the past year alone, hospitals have closed pediatric intensive care units for critically ill kids in Montana, Oregon, and Missouri. Overnight hospital wings for kids have also shuttered in Illinois and California.

Depending on the hospital, ...Read more

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — In a Florida county with a startling rate of child firearm injuries, a boarded-up elementary school named for famed educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune sits in a 250-acre site once called “ Brown’s Dump.”

The dump emerged in an era of redlining, systematic racism that divided American cities large...Read more

When Ashley Porter began slurring her speech one October day four years ago, doctors suspected a stroke. A spinal tap, an MRI, dozens of blood draws, another MRI, and a night spent at the hospital were followed, finally, by an answer: Porter had multiple sclerosis.

Her shock turned to outrage, she said, when she received the roughly $180,000 ...Read more

Millions of Medicare enrollees who buy stand-alone prescription drug plans will see their average monthly premiums rise by 50% in 2027, a new analysis finds.

But enrollees can avoid the average increase — from $34 a month to $51 — by switching to lower-cost plans during the program’s open enrollment period, which runs through Dec. 7.

...Read more

The Florida Department of Health held a hearing in October 2026 on a proposal to remove four vaccine requirements for entry into school and childcare: Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, chickenpox, pneumococcal and hepatitis B.

These vaccines entered use in the U.S. at different times from the early 1980s through 2000. Prior to ...Read more

Public health officials have confirmed 80 cases of measles in Minnesota so far this year — the highest total in 36 years for the highly infectious but vaccine-preventable disease.

The surge is largely because of an outbreak in Todd County in central Minnesota, which so far has reported 57 cases. The county accounted for all 37 of the measles ...Read more

PAGE, Ariz. — Doug Herrera still lives in the house his father built, though his dad died some time ago from cancer. Herrera wonders if that illness could have been linked to pollutants from nearby uranium mining. Now, he worries that a possible new neighbor — a proposed $10 billion mega data center— could imperil his health.

“I’m a ...Read more

CREVE COEUR, Mo. — Reneé Luckfield tries not to knock like a cop.

In fact, the 29-year-old spends a lot of time thinking about how to make strangers comfortable when she shows up at their door to talk about transgender healthcare. A syncopated “tap — tap-tap-tap” sounds friendly even when she knocks loudly. In each encounter, she masks...Read more

MERIDIAN, Idaho — It didn’t take long for doctors to see that something was amiss with Rebecca Crozier’s pregnancy.

At her eight-week ultrasound in 2025, they mentioned a possible neural tube defect, she said, but after some research, she thought it was something that could be managed or treated.

“If it was a fixable problem, I was ...Read more

Federal regulators are cracking down on the nonprofits responsible for coordinating organ donations, aiming to begin shutting down substandard groups by early next year.

New criteria will score the organizations on donation and transplantation rates and will decertify the bottom tier, meaning their contracts with the federal government will be ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Fall is in full swing across California, bringing cooler weather and the start of another respiratory virus season.

Although respiratory viruses circulate year-round, many become more active during the fall and winter months.

“Many respiratory viruses, including flu, (respiratory syncytial virus) and COVID-19 circulate...Read more

In the first three years after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion in June 2022, more than 900 women faced criminal charges for conduct related to their pregnancies, according to a new report.

Most state laws that prohibit or regulate abortion seek to penalize those who provide abortions, not the women who...Read more

Life is simpler when you’re young. You can mow the lawn without breaking a sweat. Climb a tree without breaking a leg. Buy new prescription glasses in the blink of an eye.

But buying eyeglasses often gets more complicated somewhere around age 50. Single-vision lenses suddenly don’t help you decipher the small print on restaurant menus. Eye ...Read more

Q: What is lab-grown meat?

A: You’ve probably been hearing more and more about the possibility of seeing meat products on the supermarket shelves that have been grown in a lab (instead of coming directly from a farm). And now you’re wondering: Meat from a lab? Is this a real thing? The short answer is yes, this is a real thing. So, unlike ...Read more

No doubt you’ve heard the call from health experts to eat a high-fiber diet. You’re probably aiming for the recommended target of about 25 grams of fiber daily for women, and 38 grams for men.

But you may also have heard that more fiber — lots more — is even better. After all, “fibermaxxing” is trending on social media, where health...Read more

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I love the fall, but I dread the shorter days and how I feel. I’ve read about seasonal affective disorder, but could you please tell me more about it?

ANSWER: Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is a type of depression that’s related to the changes in seasons. Symptoms typically appear in the fall, worsen through the ...Read more