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Two years after the NSW Select Committee on Birth Trauma, prominent doulas say the freebirth movement is acting in a cult-like manner toward women afraid of the medical system. While doulas and midwives alike say that women should have the right to choose their preferred birth, the maternity system is not doing enough to support them to do so. 

Becca Whitehead

New guidance from Australia’s national privacy regulator clarifies clinicians’ discretion to contact a patient’s at-risk relatives directly about serious genetic risk.

Jane Tiller

Children’s mental health is no longer a taboo topic. We’ve moved past questioning whether children can experience mental health challenges to focusing on how best to support them. It’s increasingly recognised that fluctuations in emotion, behaviour and functioning are a normal part of child development, and that promoting mental health is as important as responding to mental illness. This article explores the emerging shift in how we conceptualise and discuss children’s mental health.

Simone Darling, Sarthak Gandhi, Cat Johnson, Frank Oberklaid

Many vulnerable people are excluded from the support they need by administrative red tape that leaves them overwhelmed and disempowered, writes Dr Louise Stone.

Louise Stone

Clinical schools and educational institutions have a social responsibility and contract to contribute to strengthening the capacity of the rural workforce

Susanne Tegen

Incorporating Indigenous perspectives into strategies for bone health is crucial for addressing the unique health needs of Indigenous people.

Annika Howells

The United States used to be a leader in vaccine research, development and policymaking. Now US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr is undermining the country’s vaccine program at the highest level and supercharging vaccine skepticism.

Julie Leask, Catherine Bennett

The MJA has published its second Special Issue on Indigenous Health to coincide with the 2025 NAIDOC week.

Sally Block

Have you had a tonsillectomy (your tonsils taken out), appendectomy (your appendix removed) or lumpectomy (removal of a lump from your breast)? The suffix “ectomy” denotes surgical removal of the named body part, so these terms give us a clear idea of what the procedure entails.

Theresa Larkin