Self-care note: This week’s wrap-up includes discussion of medical interventions without consent, violence against women, discrimination against LGBTQIA+ people and pornography. You may prefer to read small sections, wait until you feel ready to read it all, or choose not to read it at all.
1. Moray mother gives birth in ambulance amid ongoing maternity service shortages 🚑
A mother from Buckie, Moray, gave birth in the back of an ambulance on the A96 while travelling to Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, around 60 miles from her home.
Hannah Smith, 39, had been advised to give birth in Aberdeen because of her previous emergency C-section and IVF pregnancy. Although she lives less than half an hour from Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin, its consultant-led maternity services have not been fully operational since 2018 due to staffing shortages. Plans to restore the services by the end of 2026 have now been delayed until 2027.
The incident comes as the Scottish Government launches an independent review of maternity services across Scotland, with particular attention to rural and island communities and inequalities in maternal health outcomes. NHS Grampian apologised to Smith and her family, saying it remains committed to restoring maternity services at Dr Gray’s as soon as safely possible.
Source: STV News
2. Hundreds rally outside Scottish Parliament to demand action on violence against women ✊
More than 300 people gathered outside the Scottish Parliament for an emergency Reclaim the Night rally, calling for greater investment in services supporting women and survivors of gender-based violence.
Organised by Sisters Against Cuts, the demonstration brought together more than 30 organisations, including Rape Crisis Scotland, Engender and the Scottish Trades Union Congress. Protesters demanded an end to cuts affecting women’s services, rape crisis centres and domestic abuse refuges, while also expressing solidarity with the trans community.
The rally followed growing concerns about far-right demonstrations and intimidation of women’s rights campaigners. Nicola Love, from Rape Crisis Scotland, warned against the normalisation of violence and vigilantism, stressing that everyone has the right to feel safe in their communities, regardless of their background.
Source: The National
3. AI frames trans people through medical and legal debates in 94% of responses, investigation finds 🏳️⚧️
A new investigation has found that three widely used AI models frequently frame trans people through medical or legal debates, even when asked questions unrelated to healthcare or legislation.
ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini were asked 168 questions about the trans community, covering topics such as trans history, safety, healthcare and policies. They generated 504 responses, 94 per cent of which included at least one legal or medical term.
QueerAF raised concerns that these responses can reproduce media narratives that frame trans people’s lives primarily as subjects of medical and political debate, rather than reflecting the diversity of their experiences.
Source: Queer AF
4. Intersex people deserve bodily autonomy, open letter says 🏳️🌈
An open letter has urged the UK Government to take action after a report found that only 40 per cent of respondents with variations in sex characteristics had been informed about their variations by doctors.
According to the report, 87 per cent of respondents had undergone medical procedures, but fewer than a third felt they had given informed consent. Around half reported having undergone genital interventions, while approximately a third had undergone removal of their gonads, requiring lifelong medication. More than 80 per cent reported inadequate access to psychological support following diagnosis.
Signed by intersex people, charities, advocates and researchers, the letter calls for greater protections for bodily autonomy, a ban on medically unnecessary interventions performed without meaningful consent, and an independent public inquiry into historical and current medical practices.
Source: Open letter
5. Children left motherless by femicide in Italy were mostly under 9, report finds 💔
More than half of the children orphaned by femicide in a new Italian study were under the age of nine when their mothers were killed, while almost one in three were younger than six.
The research found that more than half of the children were at home when the killings took place. In 87.7 per cent of the documented cases, the perpetrator was one of the child’s parents.
The report, published by the Respiro project, gathered data on 124 children from 78 families receiving support across six regions of southern Italy. The project brings together organisations including Terre des Hommes Italy and Save the Children Italy.
Source: Ansa
6. Autistic people experience more severe menopause symptoms, new study finds 🩺
According to new research, autistic people experience more severe menopausal symptoms than non-autistic people.
More than 900 people took part in the study, which found that autistic people experience higher levels of anxiety and depression, as well as a lower quality of life, compared to non-autistic people,
The researchers also found that autistic people’s experience of menopause can be different from what they had read about and expected, and that they may struggle to understand what they are going through.
The study was conducted by researchers at Bournemouth University and is the largest of its kind to date.
Source: News-Medical
Main image by Lajmmoore
