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Mother's dengue immunity influences the severity of Zika infection in infants

Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School and their colleagues have identified a surprising interaction between dengue and Zika viruses that sheds lights on the significant fetal brain abnormalities linked to Zika virus.

1 Mar 2019

Researchers develop blood test to predict spontaneous preterm birth

Pregnancy can be a time of uncertainty for expecting mothers and their clinical care teams. Nearly 10 percent of births are preterm, taking place before 37 weeks gestation. Preterm birth can result from several conditions, including preterm labor, preterm rupture of the placental membrane, or preeclampsia.

1 Mar 2019

Second-ever case of semi-identical (sesquizygotic) twins

Doctors report on a woman who gave birth to semi-identical twins in 2014. This is the second time this is known to have occurred after the first case in 2007.

28 Feb 2019

New blood test detects genetic disorders in fetuses

Tel Aviv University researchers have developed a new blood test for genetic disorders that may allow parents to learn about the health of their baby as early as 11 weeks into pregnancy.

21 Feb 2019

Testosterone is not the only hormone needed for penis development

A new study has revealed that in addition to testosterone, the masculinization process involves a hormone called androsterone, which originates in other tissues.

15 Feb 2019

New study helps doctors better understand high blood pressure in pregnant women

According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 6 - 8% of pregnant women experience hypertension. High blood pressure during pregnancy is associated with a number of risks to the woman and fetus, including low-birth weight infants, preterm birth, problems with the placenta, heavy bleeding, heart defects and other congenital anomalies, and in the most severe cases death.

13 Feb 2019

Compounds found in fish oil may prevent pregnancy complications, finds study

Compounds found in fish oil prevent pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, neonatal death, and stillbirth, in mice when the complications are caused by a common oral bacteria, according to research published today in the journal JCI Insight.

8 Feb 2019

PFAS chemicals pass through the placenta to fetal tissues throughout pregnancy

In a study published in Environment International researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show how PFAS industrial chemicals, which are used in many consumer products, pass through the placenta throughout pregnancy to accumulate in fetal tissue.

30 Jan 2019

Cardiovascular disease risk begins even before birth

Heart disease is the greatest killer in the world today, and it is widely accepted that our genes interact with traditional lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking, obesity and/or a sedentary life to promote an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

23 Jan 2019

Placenta adapts and compensates when pregnant mothers have poor diets or low oxygen

Cambridge researchers have discovered the placenta regulates how much oxygen and nutrients it transports to babies during challenging pregnancies in a study using mice to model conditions in the womb.

21 Jan 2019

UC Riverside biologists study evolution of dorsal fin in molly and Limia fish

To female molly and Limia fish, nothing is hotter than a male with a large dorsal fin. But these fins aren't just decorations to attract females.

18 Jan 2019

Air pollution can raise the risk of miscarriage among women finds study

A new study has shown that similar to smoking, exposure to air pollution can also raise the risk of miscarriages among women.

13 Jan 2019

One reason behind frequent miscarriages could be faulty sperms

Scientists at the Imperial College in London have found that one of the reasons behind frequent miscarriages in a woman could be the fault of the sperms of their partners. Recurrent miscarriages are defined as three or more miscarriages that occur before 20 weeks of pregnancy are completed. One in 50 couples in the UK are affected by recurrent miscarriages.

6 Jan 2019

Sperm health may play a role in recurrent miscarriages

The early-stage study, from scientists at Imperial College London, investigated the sperm quality of 50 men whose partners had suffered three or more consecutive miscarriages.

4 Jan 2019

KU Leuven scientists develop new vaccine against Zika virus

Scientists at the KU Leuven Rega Institute in Belgium have developed a new vaccine against the Zika virus. This vaccine should prevent the virus from causing microcephaly and other serious conditions in unborn babies.

19 Dec 2018

Study reveals urban and rural differences in prenatal exposure to essential and toxic elements

New findings from a team of Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine researchers reveal urban and rural differences in prenatal exposure to essential and toxic elements.

13 Dec 2018

SLU researchers explore how fetal exposure to inflammation can alter immunity in newborns

Saint Louis University researchers are studying how fetal exposure to inflammation can alter immune responses after birth.

12 Dec 2018

Research pinpoints two proteins involved in creation of stem cells

Mammalian embryos are unlike those of any other organism as they must grow within the mother's body. While other animal embryos grow outside the mother, their embryonic cells can get right to work accepting assignments, such as head, tail or vital organ. By contrast, mammalian embryos must first choose between forming the placenta or creating the baby.

11 Dec 2018

Study evaluates placental mesenchymal stem cell sheets for myocardial repair and regeneration

The placenta offers an abundant source of placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells (pMSCs), which a new study has shown can readily form cell sheets that could be implanted in children with congenital heart defects and offer benefits for heart repair and regeneration compared to commonly used synthetic material-based scaffolds. Congenital heart disease is the leading cause of birth-defect-related illness and death.

9 Dec 2018

Despite reduction in twin stillbirth rates, there is no change in still birth rates involving single fetus

A leading expert in fetal medicine at the University of Birmingham has warned that there is 'little room for complacency' over a fall in twin stillbirth rates as the reason for this phenomenon are complex.

30 Nov 2018