Maternal Health News and Research

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In Texas, Medicaid coverage ends soon after childbirth. Will lawmakers allow more time?

Victoria Ferrell Ortiz learned she was pregnant during summer 2017. The Dallas resident was finishing up an AmeriCorps job with a local nonprofit, which offered her a small stipend to live on but no health coverage. She applied for Medicaid so she could be insured during the pregnancy.

31 Mar 2023

UT Southwestern awarded $18 million PCORI funding to investigate ways to improve postpartum health

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have been approved for an $18 million funding award from the nonprofit Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to investigate ways to improve postpartum health among primarily low-income Black and Hispanic women.

28 Mar 2023

U.S. maternal mortality rates rose during COVID-19 pandemic

A new study examines mortality related to pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared pre-pandemic rates.

23 Mar 2023

What is the effect of maternal obesity on the brain development of offspring?

Recently, scientists reviewed the mechanisms associated with the maternal microbiome, breast milk composition, maternal and placental metabolites, altered maternal care, and inflammation, which influences the brain development of the offspring.

22 Mar 2023

People conceived by IVF are not at increased risk of obstetric or perinatal complications, study finds

There's little evidence to suggest that children conceived as a result of fertility treatment are at any greater risk of pregnancy complications or worse birth outcomes than their naturally conceived peers, finds a long-term study, published in the open access journal BMJ Medicine.

21 Mar 2023

Scientists study how maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy affects child’s brain development

Scientists led by the Lieber Institute for Brain Development are studying how a mother's SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy affects the biology of the placenta and the corresponding trajectory of the child's brain development, including the risk for neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism.

13 Mar 2023

Higher income not enough to offset the impact of race on maternal and infant health

While higher income improves maternal and infant health over time, it's not enough to offset the impact of race, according to new University of Michigan research.

28 Feb 2023

Preventative antibiotic given during labor can reduce the risk of sepsis and death

A single oral dose of the antibiotic azithromycin given during labor can dramatically reduce the risk of sepsis and death among women following childbirth, according to a large multi-country clinical trial, as a UN report warns of "stagnation" in maternal health.

23 Feb 2023

Tapping mothers’ and babies’ medical records to better predict prematurity complications

By sifting through electronic health records of moms and babies using a machine-learning algorithm, scientists can predict how at-risk newborns will fare in their first two months of life.

16 Feb 2023

Researchers gain deeper understanding of risk factors associated with low birthweights

Multiple births, a short interval between pregnancies and mothers with a maternal physical or mental health condition are more at risk of having a low birth rate baby according to Swansea University researchers.

15 Feb 2023

HemaChrome wins phase 1 of the NIH's RADx Tech for Maternal Health Challenge

HemaChrome, a digital health startup that uses smartphone technology to noninvasively and instantly measure blood hemoglobin levels, has won phase 1 of the National Institutes of Health's RADx Tech for Maternal Health Challenge.

15 Feb 2023

Part II: The state of the abortion debate 50 years after ‘Roe’

The abortion debate has changed dramatically in the seven months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and its nationwide right to abortion.

27 Jan 2023

Bleeding and in pain, a pregnant woman in Louisiana couldn’t get answers

When Kaitlyn Joshua found out she was pregnant in mid-August, she and her husband, Landon Joshua, were excited to have a second baby on the way. They have a 4-year-old daughter and thought that was just the right age to help with a younger sibling.

12 Jan 2023

Combination therapy could be a safe choice for oral opioid maintenance treatment during pregnancy

Current guidelines recommend that pregnant women with opioid use disorder be prescribed either methadone or buprenorphine, but these drugs too have significant potential for abuse.

11 Jan 2023

Medicaid expansion led to improved postpartum health for low-income birthing people

According to health care experts, the benefits for brand-new parents and their infants having access to health care during pregnancy as well as during the postpartum period are indisputable.

10 Jan 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic's traumatizing effect on mothers in the USA

A new research paper presents the results of a study on maternal stress levels in American mothers during COVID-19.

19 Dec 2022

More states to consider extending postpartum Medicaid coverage beyond two months

New consortium aims to address the impacts of heat exposure on maternal, newborn and child health

A new consortium involving the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) has launched to address key knowledge gaps around the quantification and monitoring of the direct and indirect impacts of heat exposure on maternal, newborn and child health.

21 Nov 2022

1 in 10 new moms diagnosed with high blood pressure in the year after childbirth

In an analysis of more than 2,400 women, about 1 in 10 without a history of blood pressure issues were diagnosed with high blood pressure in the year after childbirth, according to a research article published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

15 Nov 2022

Decades-long effort to reduce stillbirth risk in the U.S. has been offset by newly identified risks

A decades-long effort to lower the stillbirth rate in the United States has stalled, as has progress in closing a persistent gap in excess stillbirths experienced by Black women compared with White women, according to a Rutgers-led study.

13 Nov 2022