Prenatal News and Research

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Alcohol can cause more than one pattern of birth defects

A collaborative research effort by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Duke University, and University College of London in the UK, sheds new light on alcohol-related birth defects.

23 Aug 2012

Views on Akin and women's health: 'A debate the GOP had hoped to avoid;' Views harkening back to colonial times

Commentators examine the repercussions of the Missouri Senate candidate's comments about rape and abortion.

23 Aug 2012

Calls for more widespread safety information on PGD

The informed consent process for prospective parents considering prenatal genetic diagnosis may be inadequate due to a lack of disclosure by fertility clinics about the risks involved in the procedure, says a US researcher.

20 Aug 2012

Prenatal alcohol exposure effects last well into childhood

Women who heavily expose their unborn child to alcohol risk restricting their child’s growth until the age of 9 years, researchers say.

17 Aug 2012

Prenatal antipsychotic exposure linked to reduced neuromotor performance

Infants with prenatal exposure to antipsychotics show significant reductions in neuromotor performance compared with other children, US researchers report.

17 Aug 2012

Smoking during pregnancy associated with wheezing and asthma in preschool children

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with wheeze and asthma in preschool children, even among children who were not exposed to maternal smoking late in pregnancy or after birth, according to a new study.

17 Aug 2012

Study tracks effects of heavy PAE on growth and body composition throughout childhood

Although studies of alcohol's effects on fetal growth have consistently demonstrated deficits that persist through infancy, the data on long-term postnatal growth from human studies have been inconsistent. A new study of the effects of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on growth and body composition throughout childhood has found growth restrictions that persist through to nine years of age, as well as a delay in weight gain during infancy, both of which were exacerbated by iron deficiency.

16 Aug 2012

Endocrine Society revises clinical practice guideline for management of thyroid dysfunction

The Endocrine Society has made revisions to its 2007 Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for management of thyroid disease during pregnancy and postpartum. The CPG provides recommendations for diagnosis and treatment of patients with thyroid-related medical issues just before and during pregnancy and in the postpartum interval.

12 Aug 2012

Boys are little more susceptible to both bad and good exposures

A new study is the first to find a difference between how boys and girls respond to prenatal exposure to the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health found that, at age 7, boys had greater difficulty with working memory, a key component of IQ, than girls with similar exposures.

10 Aug 2012

Abacus, SurePoint Medical partner to offer diabetes-care plan for employers

SurePoint Medical, provider of direct-to-consumer healthcare supplies and disease-management services, today announced a strategic partnership with Abacus Employer Health Solutions (Abacus) to offer its SurePoint Wellness diabetes-care plan to companies that use Abacus's Good Health Gateway employee health management program.

9 Aug 2012

Prenatal antipsychotic exposure linked to reduced neuromotor performance

Infants with prenatal exposure to antipsychotics show significant reductions in neuromotor performance compared with other children, US researchers report.

8 Aug 2012

Risky prenatal use of steroid to prevent intersex, tomboys and lesbians

A new paper just published in the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry uses extensive Freedom of Information Act findings to detail an extremely troubling off-label medical intervention employed in the U.S. on pregnant women to intentionally engineer the development of their fetuses for sex normalization purposes.

3 Aug 2012

Greenwich Hospital to educate women about breastfeeding during first week of August

At Greenwich Hospital, as throughout the world, the first week of August is recognized as World Breastfeeding Week to educate people about the health benefits of breastfeeding for both baby and mother. Promoted at the global level by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, the spotlight is part of an effort to reduce world hunger and illness.

2 Aug 2012

Health law's medical-loss ratio and birth control coverage requirements kick in today

Aug. 1 marks the deadline for insurers to refund consumers and employers if they didn't spend at least 80 percent of premiums on health care. Another provision takes effect requiring most employers to include contraceptive and other women's health services without copays in the insurance plans they offer workers.

2 Aug 2012

High maternal choline intake may reduce risk of hypertension and diabetes in babies

New research from Cornell University indicates that pregnant women who increase choline intake in the third trimester of pregnancy may reduce the risk of the baby developing metabolic and chronic stress-related diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes later in life.

2 Aug 2012

High in-utero magnetic field levels may increase risk of obese or overweight in childhood

In-utero exposure to relatively high magnetic field levels was associated with a 69 percent increased risk of being obese or overweight during childhood compared to lower in-utero magnetic field levels, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that appears in the current online version of Nature's Scientific Reports.

30 Jul 2012

Excess maternal iodine supplementation can lead to congenital hypothyroidism in infants

Congenital hypothyroidism is thyroid hormone deficiency at birth that, if left untreated, can lead to neurocognitive impairments in infants and children. Although the World Health Organization recommends 200-300 -g of iodine daily during pregnancy for normal fetal thyroid hormone production and neurocognitive development, the US Institute of Medicine considers 1,100 -g to be the safe upper limit for daily ingestion.

26 Jul 2012

Researchers identify high ARV drug exposure in hair samples of HIV uninfected infants

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Makerere University in Uganda have used hair and blood samples from three-month old infants born to HIV-positive mothers to measure the uninfected babies' exposure—both in the womb and from breast-feeding—to antiretroviral medications their mothers were taking. The results, they said, are surprising.

23 Jul 2012

Prenatal and early childhood exposure to PCE may be associated with long-term visual impairments

Prenatal and early childhood exposure to the chemical solvent tetrachloroethylene (PCE) found in drinking water may be associated with long-term visual impairments, particularly in the area of color discrimination, a new study led by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researchers has found.

12 Jul 2012

Overproduction of hepcidin appears to impair maternal-fetal iron transfer

A growing number of studies imply that children born to obese mothers face health problems stemming from the womb.

10 Jul 2012

Prenatal News and Research

Alcohol can cause more than one pattern of birth defects

Views on Akin and women's health: 'A debate the GOP had hoped to avoid;' Views harkening back to colonial times

Calls for more widespread safety information on PGD

Prenatal alcohol exposure effects last well into childhood

Prenatal antipsychotic exposure linked to reduced neuromotor performance

Smoking during pregnancy associated with wheezing and asthma in preschool children

Study tracks effects of heavy PAE on growth and body composition throughout childhood

Endocrine Society revises clinical practice guideline for management of thyroid dysfunction

Boys are little more susceptible to both bad and good exposures

Abacus, SurePoint Medical partner to offer diabetes-care plan for employers

Prenatal antipsychotic exposure linked to reduced neuromotor performance

Risky prenatal use of steroid to prevent intersex, tomboys and lesbians

Greenwich Hospital to educate women about breastfeeding during first week of August

Health law's medical-loss ratio and birth control coverage requirements kick in today

High maternal choline intake may reduce risk of hypertension and diabetes in babies

High in-utero magnetic field levels may increase risk of obese or overweight in childhood

Excess maternal iodine supplementation can lead to congenital hypothyroidism in infants

Researchers identify high ARV drug exposure in hair samples of HIV uninfected infants

Prenatal and early childhood exposure to PCE may be associated with long-term visual impairments

Overproduction of hepcidin appears to impair maternal-fetal iron transfer

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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