Pregnant women should be offered the COVID-19 vaccine when they meet criteria from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Researchers found no evidence that supplemental oxygen during childbirth made a significant difference in oxygen supply to the umbilical artery. The findings in JAMA Pediatrics also showed that supplemental oxygen during labor had no impact on newborns' odds of being admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit or on their Apgar scores.

A case report in The New England Journal of Medicine described two boys -- a 6-year-old and a 23-month-old -- who developed lung cancer that had an exact genetic match to cervical cancers in their mothers during birth, suggesting that the children breathed in cancer cells from their mothers' tumors while they were being born. "In our cases, we think that tumors arose from mother-to-infant vaginal transmission through aspiration of tumor-contaminated vaginal fluids during birth," lead researcher Dr. Ayumu Arakawa said.

A study in the Journal of the American Heart Association found that an elevated Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet score was tied to decreased diastolic blood pressure levels in mid-pregnancy and decreased fetoplacental vascular function in mid- and late- pregnancy. The findings, based on data from 3,414 women, indicate that "the [DASH] diet might have small positive effects on gestational hemodynamic adaptations in low-risk pregnant populations," the researchers wrote.

Researchers found that women with a family history of breast cancer were more likely to undergo more than 10 mammogram screenings and had a higher likelihood of having mammogram- or breast ultrasound-detected cancers, as well as increased odds of reduced tumor sizes, no involvement of lymph nodes, and improved breast cancer and overall survival, compared with those without a family history. The findings in The Breast also showed that having 10 or more mammograms correlated with significantly better breast cancer survival and overall survival, regardless of family history.

Women who used oral contraceptives had slightly increased risk of developing breast cancer in the short-term, compared with those who didn't take oral contraceptives, researchers reported in Cancer Research. However, the findings correlated oral contraceptive use with 32% and 28% lower odds of lifetime endometrial and ovarian cancers, respectively.

A study published in the journal Menopause showed that premenopausal women with higher dietary fiber intake were less likely to experience depression, compared with premenopausal women with lower fiber intake; however, the same association was not found among postmenopausal women. This may be due to estrogen affecting the balance of gut microorganisms present in premenopausal and postmenopausal women, the researchers suggested.

Researchers compared 118,391 deliveries in Oregon occurring before the state's Medicaid expansion was implemented in 2014 with 99,938 deliveries occurring after the expansion and found that 81.8% of women said they started prenatal care in their first trimester before the expansion, compared with 83.3% after the expansion. The findings in Preventive Medicine also showed that the number of women with live births who were ever enrolled in Medicaid during their pregnancy rose from 43.6% before the Medicaid expansion to 45.1% after the expansion and that those who were uninsured at the time of delivery dropped from 2.2% to 1.8%.

The CDC issued updated guidance clarifying that overlapping may occur with regard to phases of vaccinating priority groups. The agency reiterated on its website that priority recipients of the COVID-19 vaccines are still health care workers, nursing home residents, people aged 75 and older, and essential workers.

Nearly 25% of health care providers, insurers and employers responding to a Klas survey said they are dissatisfied with the telehealth platform they are using. Respondents valued EHR integration, a simple clinical experience and an easy-to-use patient interface.

The CMS unveiled a new roadmap outlining how states can leverage existing flexibilities under federal law to strengthen their value-based strategies and address social determinants of health for their Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program members. The goal of is to help states design programs that improve member outcomes and reduce health care costs by addressing social, economic and environmental factors.