Australian women are poorly informed about medical abortion

Why do women choose surgical terminations over a medical approach? Healthcare professionals in Australia appear to see this as more about knowledge than choice. A qualitative study involving 15 lengthy interviews with abortion service providers suggest that women are well placed to make informed choices, but in many cases they are less aware of the option of medical termination, and might choose it more often if the medical approach was promoted more widely, misconceptions about this method were addressed and if more practitioners provided it. It would be interesting to know how closely professionals’ views agree with those of women themselves.

Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol 2016;56:523–529. doi:10.1111/ajo.1250

Obesity has a negative effect on male fertility

Are fat men less fertile? A retrospective cohort study of 4400 men referred for fertility investigations found that serum hormone and semen parameters demonstrated mild but significant relationships with body mass index. After multivariate analysis, ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, and sperm morphology all remained significantly but mildly inversely linked with fertility; sperm motility was not. Rates of azoospermia and oligospermia were also more prevalent among obese (12.7% and 31.7%, respectively) compared with normal weight …