Global Scans · Birth · Weekly Summary

• [New] The birth collapse will matter to Poland's security as well: by the low variant scenario, Poland 2050 would have fewer than 600,000 young men of military age - less than a third as many as in 1999, when it joined NATO. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• [New] The future of the Polish nation will depend on its birth path, or to put it another way, its fertility trajectory. American Enterprise Institute - AEI
• There is a 94.5% probability that HLE at birth for Singapore women and 93.4% for Singapore men will be higher than 75.2 years in 2030, the same as the highest life expectancy in the world in 2019. PubMed Central (PMC)
• Looking ahead to 2030, the projections of male HLE at birth ranged from 40.4 years in Lesotho to 77.4 years in Singapore. PubMed Central (PMC)
• Men in Singapore are projected to have the highest HLE at birth in 2030, with a 93.4% probability of higher than 75.2 years. PubMed Central (PMC)
• Given the apparently large role of social ties in shaping fertility behaviours, the idea that the digital revolution might be reducing American and global birth rates by reducing the extent to which Americans are exposed to family life is entirely plausible. Institute for Family Studies
• For the first time, millions of American children will begin their financial lives already holding equity, not just a birth certificate. The Fintech Times
• In January, a major review published in The Lancet, looking at dozens of studies and using sibling comparisons to control for genetics, found no good evidence that acetaminophen in pregnancy raises the risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. The Autism Dad
• Japan's youngest residents are at risk, though, as resistant bacteria can sometimes pass from mothers to newborns at birth and can cause serious complications, like sepsis. Live Science
• Exposure to wildfire smoke for even a few days during the third trimester of pregnancy raises the risk of autism diagnoses in children by up to 23%. Access Information News
• The growing risk to mothers of suffering serious and potentially fatal bleeding following childbirth is terrifying. The Guardian
• In a win for workers rights, employees in the US state of Virginia will soon be entitled to up to 12 weeks paid leave if they give birth, need long-term healthcare, or are caring for poorly family members. Positive News
• The birth-cohort effect for CRC is most evident in incidence trends by anatomic subsite because increased risk is dominated by tumours in the distal colon, especially the sigmoid colon, and rectum. PubMed Central (PMC)
• Reducing anaemia in pregnancy, addressing the unmet need for contraception, avoiding medically unnecessary caesarean sections, and ensuring all women receive effective uterotonic medicines after birth could substantially lower the global burden of postpartum haemorrhage. Oxford University
• Israel's targeting of neonatal and maternity care centers during its war on Gaza directly endangered Palestinians' reproductive future and the survival of newborns - driving a rise in miscarriages, birth defects and lasting vulnerabilities. Al Jazeera
• The opposing forces of platform centralization and content decentralization will continue to shape the media and entertainment industry, as they have since the birth of the World Wide Web. PwC
• A 17% decline in birth rates after 2007 translates to 576,000 fewer college-aged Americans between 2025 and 2029. Fortune
• MMS is now being introduced in Lumbini province, one of the poorest regions in Nepal, with the potential to reach more than 100,000 pregnant women and their babies with improved nutrition in 2026. Stanford Social Innovation Review
• About 9% of women worldwide will have an eating disorder in their lifetime, commonly during three vulnerable periods: puberty, pregnancy and perimenopause. BBC

Last updated: 02 August 2026