women's health history

Our Bodies Ourselves celebrated International Day of the Midwife with the Bay State Birth Coalition on May 5, 2026.

Formula shortages disproportionately affect Black birthing people because of a long history in which they have been both prohibited and discouraged from breastfeeding.

For centuries, Native Hawaiian healers treated abortion as a core part of normal health care. In 1970, Hawai'i was the first U.S. state to legalize abortion.

Updates on revised adaptations of "Our Bodies Ourselves" from Le Collectif Nos Corps Nous-mêmes, our global partner in France

Video of the "Making Our Legacy Matter" program, hosted by Our Bodies Ourselves on International Women's Day 2026.

Feminist therapy has become more intersectional and inclusive since its emergence in the 1960s. But its radical core principles remain, as it works to undo the harms of patriarchy to our mental health and development.

Ideas about masturbation have changed through time, from the origins of stigma through the late 20th century when scientists recognized solo sex as a normal practice.

We mourn the loss of two brilliant and consequential feminists who reshaped the healthcare landscape: writer Gena Corea and attorney Susan Jenkins.

Even our language betrays the sexist bias of reproductive health studies. Elizabeth Hlavinka discusses how we're still being harmed by a long history of ignoring, misperceiving, and discounting women's bodies.

Menstruation has a very long history of stigma, which continues into the present.

Founders of Our Bodies Ourselves discuss their personal experience of aging and their continued commitment to making health and sexuality information accessible to all women and gender-expansive people.

In the 19th century, the US and the UK had similar rates of midwife-attended births. But over time, this changed. Ellie Rose Mattoon explores the history of midwifery care in the two countries.