Maternal Wellness Center

04/03/2026

For the people in the back. 👏

04/02/2026

The silent treatment says more about the person doing it than it does about the person receiving it, Daryl Austin wrote in 2021: https://theatln.tc/5oEytG4S

It might be employed by passive personality types to avoid conflict, while strong personality types use it as a means of punishment or control. Some people, so flooded with emotion that they shut down, may not even consciously choose it at all. For others, it’s literally addicting. “Most people who start giving the silent treatment never intend for it to go on for as long as it does, but it can be very difficult to stop,” Kipling Williams, a psychology professor, told Austin. “It’s psychological quicksand.”

Many of those who are subject to the silent treatment become anxious, withdrawn, depressed, or even suicidal. One study found that it provokes the same areas of the brain as physical abuse. Of course, the silent treatment harms the person causing it too. It goes against human nature to ignore someone and, in order to justify the behavior, the perpetrator keeps in mind all of the reasons they’re choosing to ignore someone. “You end up living in a constant state of anger and negativity,” Williams said.

Read more about the silent treatment, who it hurts, and why it’s so dangerous at the link.

🎨: Getty / Adam Maida / The Atlantic The Atlantic

04/02/2026

Simple instructions for manifold joy.

03/31/2026

35 to 50 is wild.

03/27/2026

Do it Monday. ✨ .e.bowman.poetry

03/25/2026

Latest national fertility data shows record IVF births, high safety rates, growing demand for care

The latest national data on assisted reproductive technology shows that over 100,000 babies were born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in the United States in a single year, marking a major milestone for reproductive medicine and the families who rely on fertility care.

The newly released data from the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) includes the most recent nationwide information from 2024. SART-member fertility clinics across the United States reported 449,772 IVF treatment cycles, resulting in 97,549 cycles with a live birth and more than 100,000 babies born nationwide. In total, 100,158 babies were born through IVF, the first time the number of IVF births has surpassed the 100,000 mark in a single year in the United States.

“More than 100,000 babies born through IVF in a single year is a powerful reminder of how many families rely on reproductive medicine to build their families,” said SART President Dr. Jennifer Eaton. “These data also reflect the progress the field has made in improving accessibility, effectiveness, and safety.”

More than 97% of IVF births were singletons, meaning a single baby was born, while twins accounted for about 2.6% of births. Triplets were extremely rare at just 0.04% of births. These outcomes reflect the widespread use of single embryo transfer to reduce the risks associated with multiple pregnancies. National data shows that about 79% of embryo transfer cycles now use elective single embryo transfer, a major shift in clinical practice over the past decade.

The data also highlights the continued demand for fertility care nationwide. In 2024, 364 fertility clinics reported data to SART, reflecting the growing role assisted reproductive technologies play in helping individuals and couples overcome infertility and grow their families.

The full national dataset, compiled by SART and based on data reported by member clinics across the United States, provides detailed information on IVF outcomes, treatment trends, and patient characteristics.

03/22/2026

Say 👏it👏!

03/19/2026

…and we’ll remember who it was.

03/09/2026

March newsletter:

Are we banging our heads against brick walls? What Many Men Still Aren’t Understanding About Misogyny in America (And why women keep finding themselves explaining it).

I didn’t expect the moment to land in my body the way it did. When I first heard about the exchange — the joking moment between Donald Trump and members of the United States men’s national ice hockey team about “having” to invite the United States women’s national ice hockey team — part of me had that familiar, almost reflexive thought: Really? Still? It wasn’t a shock. It was recognition — deep, cellular, weary recognition. Then the simmering anger arrived, right on cue. Same pattern, new content. Same old diminishment dressed up as a joke. Just one more piece added to the growing avalanche.

If you’re a woman reading this, you may know the feeling I mean — that quiet drop in the stomach when something sexist is publicly brushed off as “just a joke”. That feeling taps into a much longer personal history of moments being left out of the room, talked over, lightly or overtly minimized, told, indirectly or directly that your presence is optional or possibly an obligation of sorts. You can start to doubt your own perceptions and perspective which is why we hear the term “gaslighting” so frequently in tandem with misogyny.

What struck me most wasn’t the joke itself. It was how ordinary it sounded, how easily it could pass as harmless inside the culture where it was spoken, and how familiar the pattern felt from the outside. That gap between how these moments land for many men and how they accumulate for many women is the space I want to sit in today. Here are some points to help us understand why it feels like no progress towards equality is being achieved, and why the men in various roles in our lives may still seem very slow on the uptake in a matter that is very high stakes for us personally, now more than ever. Keep reading:: https://www.maternalwellness.org/blog/what-women-wish-more-men-knew

03/06/2026

03/04/2026

What Women Wish More Men Knew - https://mailchi.mp/maternalwellness/changesatmwc-13058387