BOSTON (AP) — Human remains found at a Boston apartment building earlier this month are those of four infants, police said.

The remains are of two boys and two girls, Boston police said in a statement posted on the department's website Monday. No arrests have been announced and an investigation is ongoing.

Officers originally responded to the building Nov. 17 and found what appeared to be human remains. The next day they found more.

The Suffolk district attorney’s office previously confirmed that some of the remains were found in a freezer.

They were removed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and were determined to be the remains of four infants, police said. Autopsy results are pending.

Police and the Suffolk district attorney's office are continuing to investigate. No additional details were made public.

Options for male birth control could soon be expanding.

Researchers at the University of Washington are testing a male hormonal contraceptive gel.

It contains synthetic hormones that signal the brain to lower testosterone to produce fewer sperm.

"It's a gel that is sort of the consistency of hand sanitizer. Men use an actuation pump, and they put one pump on each shoulder and they rub it in wash their hands, and we monitor their sperm count during the study, and they and their partner ultimately rely on the gel as their method of contraception," Stephanie Page of the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute.

Men currently have two effective options for birth control, condoms and vasectomy.

Researchers hope more options will allow couples to treat contraception as a shared responsibility.

"For example, you can imagine a couple initially, she may be on the pill, or maybe they're using condoms at the beginning, and then she decides to go on the pill or have an IUD, and then they decide they want to conceive, and then they have their first child, and they're thinking about having another one, and it's like well, he takes his turn then, and he uses this for a couple of years," Page said.

Side effects for the gel were similar to side effects for women on hormonal birth control. They include weight gain and mood swings.

Researchers estimate it will be another seven to 10 years before the gel hits the market.

Walgreens and CVS plan to provide abortion pills following the Food and Drug Administrations rule change that broadens availability for the pills.

The Biden administration partially implemented the change last year, announcing it would no longer enforce a long-standing requirement that women pick up the medicine in person. Tuesday's action formally updates the drug's labeling to allow many more retail pharmacies to dispense the pills, so long as they complete a certification process.

In a statement, Walgreens said it intends to become a certified pharmacy under the program.

"We are working through the registration, necessary training of our pharmacists, as well as evaluating our pharmacy network in terms of where we normally dispense products that have extra FDA requirements and will dispense these consistent with federal and state laws," Walgreens stated.

The rule change’s impact has been blunted by numerous state laws limiting abortion broadly and the pills specifically. Legal experts foresee years of court battles over access to the pills, as abortion-rights proponents bring test cases to challenge state restrictions.

CVS said it plans to seek certification after reviewing the FDA's updated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy drug safety program for mifepristone, the generic name of the drug.

"We plan to seek certification to dispense mifepristone where legally permissible following that review," CVS said in a statement.

For more than 20 years, the FDA labeling had limited dispensing to a subset of specialty offices and clinics, due to safety concerns. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA temporarily suspended the in-person requirement. The agency later said a new scientific review by agency staff supported easing access, concurring with numerous medical societies that had long said the restriction wasn't necessary.

Two drugmakers that make brand-name and generic versions of abortion pills requested the latest FDA label update. Agency rules require a company to file an application before modifying dispensing restrictions on drugs.

Danco Laboratories, which sells branded Mifeprex, said in a statement the change “is critically important to expanding access to medication abortion services and will provide healthcare providers” with another option for prescribing the drug.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists called the update an “important step" forward.

“Although the FDA’s announcement today will not solve access issues for every person seeking abortion care, it will allow more patients who need mifepristone for medication abortion additional options to secure this vital drug,” the group said in a statement.

More than half of U.S. abortions are now done with pills rather than surgery, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.

The FDA in 2000 approved mifepristone to terminate pregnancies of up to 10 weeks, when used with a second drug, misoprostol. Mifepristone is taken first to dilate the cervix and block the hormone progesterone, which is needed to sustain a pregnancy. Misoprostol is taken 24 to 48 hours later, causing the uterus to contract and expel pregnancy tissue.

Bleeding is a common side effect, though serious complications are very rare. The FDA says more than 3.7 million U.S. women have used mifepristone since its approval.

Several FDA-mandated safety requirements remain in effect, including training requirements to certify that prescribers can provide emergency care in the case of excessive bleeding. Pharmacies that dispense the pills also need a certification.

BOSTON, Mass. — New moms often have a hard time finding their rhythm when they begin parenthood, and a new study suggests that the pandemic has made it even harder for first-time moms to bond with their babies.

Chrissy Athens gave birth to her daughter Seeley back in February. Both are perfectly happy and perfectly healthy, but navigating COVID-19 with an infant isn't always easy.

"I'm just trying to create as normal of a childhood as I can despite the pandemic," Athens said.

On a recent morning, that bit of normalcy came from a music class in downtown Boston park. It was a chance for parents to bond with their babies. And while finding the right chord for first-time moms has always been tough, COVID-19 has added another layer of uncertainty and stress these last two years.

"I think it was harder when I was pregnant trying to protect myself and her," Athens said.

It turns out the pandemic has really impacted moms and infants perhaps more than most people realized.

Dr. Carmina Erdei and her colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital just wrapped up a year-long study. What they found was many mothers reported lower ratings of infant bonding because of experiences related to COVID-19.

"There are various psychological risks to maternal mental health and well-being," Dr. Erdei said.

Many new moms said they were feeling symptoms of depression through the pandemic, which in turn made it harder for them to bond with their new baby.

"It’s really a vicious cycle. When mothers are depressed, they have a harder time engaging with their baby," she added.

Dr. Erdei and her team are using all this information to help new and expecting moms. Brigham and Women’s is one of the first hospitals in the country working to establish a perinatal mental health program embedded into their NICU. The hope is it will help new moms who are struggling even before they give birth.

"For us, the lessons learned is that it’s really important to screen for postpartum depression," Dr. Edei added.

As for Chrissy Athens, a lot of the pressures she was dealing with during her pregnancy have subsided. These days she's just trying to spend as much time as she can watching her daughter grow up.

"You can only stress so much. I just want her to not feel like there’s a pandemic happening."

The global threat of measles has become worse after 22 million babies missed their vaccinations because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Wednesday.

Measles is one of the most contagious viruses known and still kills more than 60,000 people a year, mostly young children. But it killed more than a million a year as recently as 2000.

Vaccination campaigns turned that around, but it doesn't take much to threaten any progress.

The CDC said Wednesday that reported measles cases fell in 2020 after a global resurgence from 2017-2019. The agency doesn't necessarily think that's good news.

"Large and disruptive measles outbreaks in 2020, however, suggest that measles transmission was underreported," the CDC team wrote in the agency's weekly report on death and disease, the MMWR.

The CDC notes millions of kids missed out on their vaccines because of the pandemic.

"Over 22 million infants missed their first dose of measles vaccine — 3 million more than in 2019 and the largest annual increase in over 20 years," the CDC said.

"While reported measles cases dropped in 2020, evidence suggests we are likely seeing the calm before the storm as the risk of outbreaks continues to grow around the world," Dr. Kate O'Brien, director of the Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals at the World Health Organization, said in a statement.

"It's critical that countries vaccinate as quickly as possible against COVID-19, but this requires new resources so that it does not come at the cost of essential immunization programs. Routine immunization must be protected and strengthened; otherwise, we risk trading one deadly disease for another."

CDC and WHO have been warning that the pandemic has damaged routine childhood vaccination programs.

"Large numbers of unvaccinated children, outbreaks of measles, and disease detection and diagnostics diverted to support COVID-19 responses are factors that increase the likelihood of measles-related deaths and serious complications in children," Dr. Kevin Cain, CDC's global immunization director, said in a statement.

"We must act now to strengthen disease surveillance systems and close immunity gaps, before travel and trade return to pre-pandemic levels, to prevent deadly measles outbreaks and mitigate the risk of other vaccine-preventable diseases."

The CDC estimates that measles vaccination programs prevent more than 31 million deaths a year.

"Even before the pandemic, we were seeing how even small pockets of low measles immunization coverage could fuel unprecedented outbreaks, including in countries where the disease had been considered eradicated. And now, COVID-19 is creating widening gaps in coverage at a pace we haven't seen in decades," Ephrem Tekle Lemango, UNICEF's associate director for immunization, said in a statement.

"While we have not seen an increase in cases yet, measles is simply too contagious. If we do not act, gaps will become outbreaks, and many children will be exposed to a preventable but potentially deadly disease," he added.

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — Since the passage of Senate Bill 8, which prohibits abortion once a heartbeat is detected, many Texans who need abortions have left home for care. It's lead to a surge in patients at clinics in surrounding states

Planned Parenthood of South Texas would normally be filled with patients receiving different types of care for abortion. Jeffrey Hons, the president and CEO, says they had no choice but to shut down those procedures.

“It’s eerily quiet here now and that’s been the case here for the month of September," Hons said. “And then when the Supreme Court turned its back on not only the women of Texas, but the legal framework of the United States of America, then things went eerily quiet here when people realized finding abortion in Texas had essentially become nearly impossible and the flurry of activity has now moved across state lines where people are desperately trying to find the care very very far away that they should be able to find right here.”

Hons says it feels wrong for them to not be offering the services their patients desperately need.

“And for those people finding abortion care that is legal, safe and offered without judgement and without stigma, it’s essential. It’s a human dignity, it’s a human right. And so, it is very painful right now, to be experiencing the emotion and physic toll that Senate Bill 8 is creating for staff who want to help people but can’t," Hons said.

This reality has put some people in a tough spot; their options are slim.

“There is so much to be worried about right now. I mean when you talk to abortion providers in neighboring states, whether that be Louisiana, New Mexico Oklahoma, they are seeing an uptick in the number of patients who are reporting Texas zip codes as their home address," Hons said.

The New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproduction Choice is seeing that firsthand.

Brittany Defeao, the program manager, shows us some context. She says In September 2019, they performed 20 abortions, in September of 2020 that number dropped to 15, and this year, it’s up to 50 people, 80% of whom are Texans.

“We were not really seeing new Mexico patients, it’s a very small amount of what we serve. We do anyone. Anywhere you come from, we will support you. Clearly Texas is the majority, it always has been, now it’s overwhelming, it is all Texas people," Defeao said.

To look at it another way, in 2020 they provided abortions to 216 people and they have already surpassed that this year with three months to go.

“It’s not how it used to be. It’s like they scatter in, they are just showing up. A lot of them are flying in in the morning. I’m getting them at the airport, taking them straight to an appointment, picking them up, getting food, they are flying back," Defeao said.

She says their phones have not stopped ringing; people are terrified to submit an application while still in Texas and are unsure of the boundaries around Senate Bill 8.

“So, we have the people who are afraid to travel, the people who are afraid to travel in a pandemic, and the people who are afraid that they are going to go to jail if they come out here to access care," Defeao said.

On top of all of that, their resources are slim.

“So, what we’re seeing is really low income, marginalized communities, the people that need the help the most," Defeao said. “These are people that have nothing, that don’t have access to birth control, to health care, to food, to safety.”

That’s why this clinic in New Mexico is making sure the people of Texas are reminded that they do have options.

“Just like confirming that community and trying to break that shame and stigma that’s even heavier because of this law," Defeao said.

Meet mini-Team USA: Newborns at Missouri hospital get into the Olympic spirit

Updated: 6:20 AM EDT Jul 22, 2021

Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, enjoys celebrating special milestones during the births of its babies, so it was no surprise to see the hospital get in the spirit of the Olympics.Since Friday is the eagerly anticipated Opening Ceremony for the Olympics, Saint Luke’s decided to celebrate in its own special way with its own Mini-Team USA.“Our Saint Luke’s specialty-trained coaches passed the torch to kick-off the Olympic celebration and recognize our newest gold-medal babies,” the hospital said in a news release. Saint Luke’s said nurses helped crochet the gold medals for our newest “athletes,” who participated in a variety of games – swimming, weightlifting, boxing, basketball, gymnastics and tennis. “The crowds (the families) were excited to be a part of the special ceremony and will get to take the handmade outfits home with them to keep,” the hospital said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —

Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, enjoys celebrating special milestones during the births of its babies, so it was no surprise to see the hospital get in the spirit of the Olympics.

Since Friday is the eagerly anticipated Opening Ceremony for the Olympics, Saint Luke’s decided to celebrate in its own special way with its own Mini-Team USA.

“Our Saint Luke’s specialty-trained coaches passed the torch to kick-off the Olympic celebration and recognize our newest gold-medal babies,” the hospital said in a news release.

Saint Luke’s said nurses helped crochet the gold medals for our newest “athletes,” who participated in a variety of games – swimming, weightlifting, boxing, basketball, gymnastics and tennis.

“The crowds (the families) were excited to be a part of the special ceremony and will get to take the handmade outfits home with them to keep,” the hospital said.

CDC data shows US births fell during the pandemic

Updated: 7:35 AM EDT Jun 23, 2021

The number of births in the United States fell by 4% last year, much of it likely due to the pandemic, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.It's "the largest annual decline in the number of births since 1973," CDC researchers wrote in their report.Births had been falling by about 2% a year already, but 2020 brought a greater decline, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics reported.CDC researchers counted 3.6 million births in 2020, based on provisional data. That's a decrease from about 3.75 million births in 2019 and 3.8 million births in 2018.In the first half of 2020, births were down 2% and the number of births fell even more in the second half of 2020, with births down 4% in July, 7% in August, 4% in September, 6% in October and November, and 8% in December, the researchers found.The coronavirus pandemic paired with an ongoing decline in U.S. births, has presented the "perfect storm" for an accelerated decrease in the number of babies born, said Dr. Rahul Gupta, chief medical and health officer for the maternal and infant health nonprofit March of Dimes."We already have a maternal and infant health crisis in our country. We already have disproportionality in terms of racial disparities," Gupta, who was not involved in the new CDC report, told CNN."So, what this particular report points to is something we should take really seriously, which is: Is this decline going to have demographic impacts in the future? And that there will be both impacts in terms of workforce, in terms of economy, in terms of diversity, and population?" Gupta asked. "And obviously what happened in 2020, it will probably happen again at least in 2021."The number of births declined for all states and Washington, DC, in the second half of last year compared with the same period in 2019.The states with the largest declines in births for the second half of 2020 were: New Mexico, New York, California, Hawaii, and West Virginia. Declines were not seen as significant in seven states: Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wyoming.The researchers also found some racial disparities. From 2019 to 2020, declines in the numbers of births each month were greater among women of color compared with white women."Evaluation of trends in births by month will continue to determine whether these declines continued into 2021 or were unique to 2020 during the time of the initial COVID-19 pandemic," the researchers wrote.

For many, spending holidays with family is something special. For one Nevada family, this Father’s Day marks a big milestone.

Even though Brody and his twin brother Ryker are 14 months old, this is the first Father’s Day they’ll spend at home with their dad, Brandon.

“Be thankful for every day those little miracle babies are around,” Brandon Soukup said.

How the twins got here, laughing and playing with their parents, is like Brandon said -- a miracle.

“September of 2019, I found out I was pregnant,” Rachel Soukup said. As she went to checkups, she was told something no parent wants to hear.

“They're basically like, 'your smaller baby is probably not going to make it. He’s probably going to die and then the larger baby could have a lot of problems associated with that, he may not make it either.' So it was a very grim prognosis,” she recalled.

With the help of doctors, Rachel was referred to Children’s Hospital Colorado from her home in Nevada.

“We just want to make sure that they’re both going to make it and we’ll do whatever we can,” she said.

Early on, Rachel found out she had Mo/Di twins, meaning one was very small and had abnormal fetal-placental blood flows.

“The high-risk nature of this comes not only in potentially losing one baby but potentially losing both or leaving one baby with brain injury,” Dr. Henry Galan, who works in maternal-fetal medicine at Children’s Hospital Colorado, said.

“Twin to twin transfusion affects about one in 4,000 to one in 5,000 pregnancies in general, it affects about 10% of identical twins.”

Rachel had to be monitored daily at the Colorado Fetal Care Center, where doctors and nurses care for high-risk moms and babies. They deal with many uncommon diagnoses.

“She needed to be watched very closely,” Dr. Franklin Chow, Director of Laborist Program at Children's Hospital Colorado, said.

Dr. Chow was there to help figure out when the danger was too high, and the babies needed to come out. The two babies' heart rate was the biggest sign -- when the smaller baby’s heart rate dropped too much, it was time.

“We just have to try to buy as much time for this baby to grow as possible,” he said.

And then the pandemic hit. Amid a pandemic, in an unfamiliar state, Rachel gave birth at 29 weeks to two boys, both under three pounds each, with her mom by her side.

Brandon was back in Nevada.

“Our hospital was like a military camp, it was secure and locked down,” Dr. Chow explained.

The twins were put in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU, where they faced a number of challenges. Ryker coded due to oxygen problems and had laser eye surgery. Brody struggled with feeding difficulties.

Months later, Brandon was finally able to visit.

“They were born on April 8 and he met them on Father’s Day. That was finally when the pandemic was calming down for a short period of time to allow for him to come,” Rachel recalled. “They had these little Father’s Day outfits, but they were massive on them.”

“I was super nervous and almost shaking. You hold them and they're just so tiny. But it was kind of that moment like, oh it was weird because I had been a dad for four months but I hadn’t actually felt like a dad,” Brandon said. “Seeing them for the first time, the noises they make, that was probably one of the better days I've ever had.”

And after 125 days in the NICU, Ryker and Brody were finally able to go home.

“Brody was always the bigger twin. He’s starting to crawl, he's starting to stand up on things,” Rachel said. “Ryker has always been a little bit behind, but he’s finally now sat up by himself which is really exciting.” Rachel is simply grateful for everyone involved in helping her on her journey.

As the boys grow up, Rachel and Brandon say they always look at things with perspective.

“It’s like that challenge in the moment with the baby, or that next developmental hurdle you're trying to get over. But a year later you kind of look back. Now our problems are Brody is crawling around and getting into everything,” Brandon said.

This Father’s Day, one year after meeting his kids, Brandon is able to celebrate with family members at home, along with his own father.

“For me, it's like a day of remembrance that you have these kids. They're in your life now, you bless these kids, it's kind of a reset day, for me anyways. Let's do another year of being a dad, let's be there for them, try to be a good person,” he said.