Research on women’s mental health increasingly frames female distress as embodied, presenting this as a move beyond mind-body dualism. This paper asks whether the move is complete. Conceptual analysis of the literature on epistemic injustice, somatisation, functional disorders, predictive processing, and gender bias in diagnosis. A residual assumption, termed here expressive priority, treats bodily distress as the expression of a prior psychological state that holds explanatory priority over the patient’s own account. It concerns explanatory practice, not metaphysics, and is compatible with physicalism. Building on Fricker, Carel and Kidd, Dotson, and Pohlhaus, the paper develops somatic testimonial injustice: a sequence in which a bodily account is deflated in credibility, translated into a psychological idiom presented as the patient’s own, and redirected so that it counts as evidence about her psychology rather than her body. The mechanism is general, but its burden is gendered, as endometriosis, systemic autoimmune disease, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and polycystic ovary syndrome illustrate. Taking predictive-processing accounts of miscalibrated symptom report, the paper argues for the parity of bodily testimony as evidence, not its primacy, and states three discriminating, falsifiable predictions. Its empirical anchors are illustrative, and the framework awaits testing. Embodiment research keeps a hidden hierarchy: bodily distress is read as the sign of a prior psychological state. Women’s bodily reports are deflated, translated, and redirected away from the body: somatic testimonial injustice. The mechanism is general, but its burden falls disproportionately on women. Bodily testimony merits parity as evidence, not primacy, and three falsifiable predictions test this.
Adverse outcomes associated with cannabis use in pregnancy are affected by frequency of maternal cannabis use. This study examines time trends in frequency of cannabis use among U.S. pregnant women. This study used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Participants included pregnant women aged 18–44 from 2010 to 2019 (n = 7,310), and 2021–2023 (n = 1,992). A multinomial regression model assessed time trends in low-moderate versus high-frequency cannabis use (< 15 versus ≥ 15 days in the past month) from 2010 to 2019, controlling for age, education level, income, marital status and race/ethnicity. From 2021 to 2023, we examined the prevalence of low-moderate versus high-frequency cannabis use and whether use was reported as “recommended by a healthcare professional”. From 2010 to 2019, high-frequency cannabis use in pregnancy increased from 1.15
Armed conflict may adversely affect childbirth and maternal well-being. Following the October 7, 2023 attacks and subsequent missile threats in northern Israel, maternity services at our tertiary medical center were relocated to a fortified underground facility. We evaluated childbirth experience, labor-support preferences, and maternal-newborn bonding during wartime. This prospective questionnaire-based study was conducted between October 2023 and February 2024 at a tertiary medical center in northern Israel. Participants completed anonymous questionnaires before childbirthand within 48 h postpartum. The survey assessed preferred labor support, the perceived impact of the war on childbirth and postpartum hospitalization, and maternal-newborn bonding. Findings were compared with data from a similar pre-war questionnaire study conducted between 2017 and 2018. A total of 200 women participated. During the study period, hospital delivery volume declined by 25
This study examined how attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits relate to depressive symptoms from late pregnancy through early postpartum in Japanese women, alongside perinatal factors. In a multicenter prospective study, 1,104 women completed questionnaires at late pregnancy (T1), 2 weeks postpartum (T2), and 1 month postpartum (T3). Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), ADHD traits with the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS), and ASD traits with the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ). Chi-square tests evaluated timepoint-specific associations, multivariable logistic regression identified independent predictors of EPDS positivity at T2, and a linear mixed-effects model assessed longitudinal changes. EPDS scores and EPDS positivity were highest at T1 and declined postpartum (16.7
Trauma during childbirth can lead to childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD), affecting maternal attachment and infant behavioral health. This study examined the association between birth complications and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) at one month postpartum in a cohort of low-income women enrolled in a home visiting program. Pregnancy conditions (e.g., preeclampsia, gestational diabetes) and labor complications (e.g., prolonged labor, fetal distress) were self-reported at the 1-month postnatal visit. Sociodemographic and psychosocial risk factors were assessed prenatally and postnatally. PTSS was measured using the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist–Civilian (PCL-C) at baseline and one month postpartum. PTSS was analyzed continuously and using a cutoff score of ≥14, indicating risk for clinically elevated symptoms and possible PTSD. Linear regression assessed associations between complications and PTSS, adjusting for covariates. Of 212 participants, 22.6
