Maternal Health News and Research

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For Republican candidates, talk about moms and babies is a thorny issue

A month before Election Day, as Republicans in Congress dodged questions about a proposal to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) tweeted that he wanted to talk about moms and babies.

4 Nov 2022

Does maternal obesity impact fetal brain development?

In a new study, researchers assessed the impact of maternal obesity on brain development in the fetus.

31 Oct 2022

Study finds persistent disparities in access to prenatal care among pregnant people

Immigrant pregnant people faced persistent inequities in obtaining timely prenatal care as compared with native-born pregnant people in the United States over an eight-year period, a factor that could be contributing to longstanding health disadvantages, according to an analysis published in JAMA Network Open on October 28.

28 Oct 2022

Women in sub-Saharan Africa continue to have higher risk of death following childbirth, analysis shows

Women in sub-Saharan Africa continue to have an elevated risk of death following childbirth long after the 42-day postpartum limit the WHO uses to define pregnancy-related deaths, a new analysis shows.

12 Oct 2022

Extended-release nifedipine could help treat women with severe preeclampsia during labor and delivery

Women with severe preeclampsia (severe high blood pressure) during pregnancy may be treated with extended-release nifedipine, a blood pressure-lowering medicine, daily during the labor and delivery process, according to new research published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

3 Oct 2022

Research on the antimicrobial effects of human milk oligosaccharides

In a recent review published in the journal Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, researchers discussed the latest advances in the antimicrobial properties of human milk.

9 Sep 2022

Potential cause of racial disparity affecting infants with congenital heart disease discovered

Race was already known to matter when it came to health outcomes for infants with congenital heart disease (CHD), the most common birth defect, affecting 1 in 100 live births.

29 Aug 2022

Policies to roll back abortion rights will hit incarcerated people particularly hard

Policies governing abortion and reproductive health care services in U.S. prisons and jails were restrictive and often hostile even before the Supreme Court removed Roe v. Wade's constitutional protections for abortions.

22 Aug 2022

SARS-CoV-2 prime and booster vaccinations found to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes

Researchers evaluated the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prime vaccination and booster vaccination during pregnancy on maternal and fetal health outcomes.

19 Aug 2022

How does birth weight affect long-term risk of mortality among men and women?

Researchers evaluate the relationship between birth weight and cause-specific mortality.

14 Aug 2022

Benefits of tocolytics outweigh any risks linked with unwanted side effects, study finds

Women around the world should be able to access the best medical treatments that help to delay preterm births and improve neonatal outcomes, new research suggests.

5 Aug 2022

Winners of NIH Technology Accelerator Challenge for Maternal Health announced

The National Institutes of Health today announced the winners of its NIH Technology Accelerator Challenge (NTAC) for Maternal Health, a prize competition for developers of diagnostic technologies to help improve maternal health around the world.

28 Jul 2022

Study finds decline in cardiovascular mortality rates over the last 20 years, but racial disparities remain

While it's well-established that Black adults experience a disproportionately high burden of cardiovascular risk factors and disease in comparison to white adults in the United States, few gender-based analyses of recent national trends exist.

19 Jul 2022

Cardiovascular mortality has declined over the past two decades, but disparities persist

Research supported by the National Institutes of Health shows that cardiovascular-related deaths have declined over the past two decades, but disparities remain.

19 Jul 2022

Infant formula marketing directly affects breastfeeding rates

Formula milk companies continue to defy international regulations and target health centers to market their products, a WHO study on formula marketing and its impact on breastfeeding shows.

18 Jul 2022

Has the COVID pandemic affected breastfeeding intention?

A new study discusses the impact of the pandemic on breastfeeding practices.

5 Jul 2022

Big employers are offering abortion benefits. Will the information stay safe?

In response to the Supreme Court's overturning of Americans' constitutional right to abortion, large employers thought they had found a way to help workers living in states where abortions would be banned: provide benefits to support travel to other states for services. But that solution is only triggering questions.

1 Jul 2022

States extend Medicaid for new mothers — even as they reject broader expansion

Until last year, Georgia's Medicaid coverage for new moms with low incomes lasted 60 days.

17 Jun 2022

Study finds infertility is a modest risk factor for the development of ADHD in childhood

Researchers evaluated the risk of ADHD in offspring of infertile mothers or those receiving infertility treatment compared to offspring of mothers with unaided conception.

9 Jun 2022

Anesthetists play an integral role in reducing preventable maternal mortality in the UK

In a session at this year's Euroanaesthesia, Obstetric Anaesthesia Expert Dr Nuala Lucas (Northwick Park Hospital, London, UK) will examine the key messages for anesthesia practice from the UK's Maternal Mortality Reports which are produced annually to provide robust information about the causes of maternal deaths to promote learning and further reduce preventable maternal mortality in the UK and beyond.

6 Jun 2022