pregnancy

Andrew Bailey's lawsuit seeking to block access to the abortion pill argues that it harms Missouri by “depressing expected birth rates for teenaged mothers." His argument stands in contrast to Missouri's own public health policies.

Natural birth centers that aren’t affiliated with hospitals are becoming more popular, but patients across the Kansas City area are left with few options after a local center closed. Plus: Kernza is a relatively new grain with a budding future as a sustainable crop, but it's struggling to find a market.

Birthing centers, which offer natural, low-intervention births to low-risk moms, are becoming more and more popular. But regardless of demand, they’re struggling to stay open.

The rule, which will last for six months, was a response to "an immediate danger to the public health, safety or welfare of pregnant women in Missouri," according to the state Department of Social Services. Missouri has some of the worst maternal mortality rates in the U.S.

A decades-old Missouri law states life begins at conception, which some IVF patients worry puts the procedure at risk. Fertility lawyer Tim Schlesinger said court cases protect the in vitro fertilization, for now.

With millions in expanded tax credits and direct state funding going to anti-abortion groups, the nonprofit Coalition Life has expanded its operations beyond Missouri and into states where the procedure is still legal.

Before she died in March after giving birth to a stillborn daughter, Krystal Anderson touched hundreds, if not thousands of lives. She was a former Chiefs cheerleader, influential in her career in health technology and a loving friend, wife and daughter. But for Black women like her, the risk of dying of pregnancy-related causes is greater than for white women.

The lawsuit alleges the hospital violated state nondiscrimination laws and a federal law that requires hospitals to treat or stabilize patients in a health crisis before transferring or dismissing them.

Missouri continues to see maternal and infant mortality rates, breast and cervical cancer death rates, preterm births, congenital syphilis and depression around pregnancy at rates that are higher than the national average. It also fared among the worst nationally for mental health.

Breast milk is like medicine for low birth weight and at-risk babies, but not all infants have access. A human milk donation drop off site at Wyandotte County's health department is raising awareness and supporting babies in need across the Midwest.

Abortion bans in some Midwestern states are forcing families to seek abortions outside of their home states. In Nebraska, one family's pregnancy was diagnosed with a complication late in the first trimester, right when the state's ban kicks in.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago. Missouri — which has some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country — was the first state to ban almost all abortions, leaving thousands of Missourians to seek other ways to access the medical procedure.