Pregnancy and Childbirth News

July 26, 2024

Top Headlines

'Prelude' to Neuromuscular Disease SMA May Offer Chances for Better Treatment

July 26, 2024 — Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a severe neurological disease for which there is presently no cure, although current therapies can alleviate symptoms. In the search for better treatment options, ...

New Ways to Study Spinal Cord Malformations in Embryos

July 12, 2024 — Scientists have successfully created mechanical force sensors directly in the developing brains and spinal cords of chicken embryos, which they hope will improve understanding and prevention of birth malformations such as spina ...

Researchers Find Biological Clues to Mental Health Impacts of Prenatal Cannabis Exposure

July 5, 2024 — Researchers outline some of the intermediate biological steps that could play into how prenatal cannabis exposure leads to behavioral issues down the ...

Fertility Treatments Could Get Boost from Stem Cells

June 24, 2024 — An unexpectedly versatile and regenerative stem cell in early embryos may be key to creating new effective fertility treatments, suggests a new study in ...

Latest Headlines

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Early Detection of miRNAs in Maternal Blood May Offer the Potential for Predicting Preeclampsia, Study Finds

July 16, 2024 — A new study finds that early detection of specific microRNAs (miRNAs) packaged in vesicles may offer the opportunity to predict preeclampsia in ...

Study Backs RSV Vaccine Safety During Pregnancy

July 8, 2024 — Vaccinating mothers against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during late pregnancy to protect their newborns is not associated with an increased risk of preterm birth or other poor outcomes. Infants ...

Researchers Find Common Immune System Mechanism Between Pregnancy, Cancer

July 8, 2024 — Researchers found a molecular mechanism, shared in cancer and pregnancy, that suppresses the immune system. Block this mechanism, called B7-H4, and the immune system revs up to slow cancer's growth. ...

New Study Shows Medication Abortion Without Ultrasound to Be Safe

June 24, 2024 — Medication abortion patients who receive pills by mail without first getting an ultrasound do just as well as those who are examined and given the drugs in person, new research has ...

Low-Dose Aspirin Could Help Prevent Pregnancy Complications Caused by Flu Infections

July 2, 2024 — A world-first study has found low-dose aspirin may treat flu-induced blood vessel inflammation, creating better blood flow to the placenta during ...

Genetic Study Points to Oxytocin as Possible Treatment for Obesity and Postnatal Depression

July 2, 2024 — Scientists have identified a gene which, when missing or impaired, can cause obesity, behavioural problems and, in mothers, postnatal depression. The ...

Prenatal Exposure to Ethylene Oxide Associated With Lower Birth Weight and Head Circumference in Newborns

June 27, 2024 — A study provides new evidence on the adverse effects of prenatal exposure to ethylene oxide (EO) on fetal development. The results show that ...

New Model Could Help Provide Expectant Mothers a Clearer Path to Safe Fish Consumption

June 28, 2024 — Research creates a framework to better balance the nutritional benefit of fish consumption with the risk of mercury exposure to the developing ...

Analysis Suggests 2021 Texas Abortion Ban Resulted in Increase in Infant Deaths in State in Year After Law Went Into Effect

June 27, 2024 — Researchers use statistical modeling to estimate infant deaths expected if one of the country's most stringent state abortion laws had not been ...

Embryo and Organoid Models Do Not Threaten the Definition of Personhood, Bioethicist Says

June 20, 2024 — Advances in organoids and embryonic models of human development have the potential to prompt social and existential questions --e.g., what defines ...

Long-Acting Injectable Cabotegravir for HIV Prevention Is Safe in Pregnancy, Study Finds

July 23, 2024 — Long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) was safe and well tolerated as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) before and during pregnancy in the follow-up phase of a global study among cisgender ...

Safe, Successful Pregnancies Possible After alloHCT

July 15, 2024 — Despite treatment-related fertility challenges, female patients can become pregnant and give birth to healthy children after undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT), ...

Living Near Oil and Gas Activity Linked to Poor Mental Health During Preconception

July 12, 2024 — A new study suggests that people who are trying to conceive and live close to oil and gas development sites have a heightened risk of developing adverse mental health outcomes. The study found that ...

COVID-19 Pandemic Tied to Low Birth Weight for Infants in India, Study Shows

July 2, 2024 — The incidence of low birth weight rose sharply in India amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new ...

Women Who Experience Depression During Pregnancy or After Birth Have Higher Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

June 19, 2024 — Women diagnosed with perinatal depression are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease in the following 20 years compared to women who have given birth without experiencing perinatal depression. ...

Chronic High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy Doubled Between 2008 and 2021 in the U.S.

June 17, 2024 — The number of individuals in the U.S. who had chronic hypertension or chronic high blood pressure during pregnancy doubled between 2008 and ...

Gonadal Function in Male Mice Disrupted by Prenatal Risk Factors

June 14, 2024 — Researchers have consistently shown that prenatal exposure to Di (2-ethyhexyl) phthalate harms the reproductive system in male mice and causes fertility defects. In a new study, scientists have shown ...

Does Having a Child With Low Birth Weight Increase a Person's Risk of Dementia?

June 12, 2024 — People who give birth to infants less than 5.5 pounds may be more likely to have memory and thinking problems later in life than people who give birth to infants who do not have a low birth weight, ...

Study Shows Role of Fathers in Seeding the Microbiota of Newborns and Confirms Benefits of Maternal Fecal Microbiota Transplants

June 12, 2024 — A mother's contribution to the makeup of a newborn baby's microbiota has been well documented. Now a new article shows the important contributions that fathers make to the composition of ...

Testing Immune Cells in the Placenta May Indicate the Health of Fetal Brain Immune Cells

June 10, 2024 — Immune activation in a pregnant woman can occur in response to metabolic diseases like obesity, infections in pregnancy, exposure to pollution and environmental toxins, or even stress and can have ...

Study Finds No Association Between COVID-19 Vaccines and Stillbirths

June 6, 2024 — In a case-control study, researchers compared 276 stillbirths with 822 live births during a one-year period from February 2021 to February 2022. Their results found no linkage between pregnant ...

Nanoparticles: Risk for Babies in the Womb

June 6, 2024 — Little is yet known about the health effects of nanoparticles on pregnancy. An interdisciplinary team is currently analyzing the risks for babies in the womb. Using a lab model, the researchers were ...

Metabolic Parameters Similar in Children Born Via Frozen and Fresh Embryo Transfer, Study Finds

June 6, 2024 — Children born via frozen embryo transfer have similar metabolic profiles to those born via fresh embryo transfer, according to a new ...

Father's Diet Before Conception Influences Children's Health

June 5, 2024 — A recent study provides new insights into how fathers' diets and overweight can affect their children's health even before conception. The findings of the study can help develop preventive ...

Exercising During Pregnancy Normalizes Eating Behaviors in Offspring from Obese Mice

June 4, 2024 — Maternal obesity impacts the eating behaviors of offspring via long-term overexpression of the microRNA miR-505-5p, according to a new ...

Stem Cells Shed New Light on How the Human Embryo Forms

May 31, 2024 — A new study using stem cell-based models has shed new light on how the human embryo begins to develop, which could one day benefit the development of fertility ...

Tiny Worm Helps Uncover Long-Lasting Prenatal Effects from Amphetamines

May 30, 2024 — During pregnancy, the effects of therapeutical doses of amphetamine have been investigated on birth outcomes in humans. However, a thorough investigation of the mechanisms underlying the long-term ...

Do Epilepsy Medications Taken During Pregnancy Affect a Child's Creativity?

May 29, 2024 — While older drugs for epilepsy, taken while pregnant, have been shown in previous research to affect the creative thinking of children, a new study finds no effects on creativity for children born to ...

Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution Associated With Increased Mental Health Risks

May 28, 2024 — A baby's exposure to air pollution while in the womb is associated with the development of certain mental health problems once the infant reaches adolescence, new research has found. The study ...

Most Young Women Treated for Breast Cancer Can Have Children

May 23, 2024 — New research has encouraging news for young women who have survived breast cancer and want to have children. The study, which tracked nearly 200 young women treated for breast cancer, found that the ...