Conception News and Research

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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Leaked abortion opinion rocks Washington’s world

People who pay attention to the Supreme Court have been expecting the justices to scale back the right to abortion when they issue their ruling on a Mississippi abortion law by the end of the current session.

5 May 2022

New drug combo emerges as a potential candidate for oral pericoital contraception

A new combination of drugs has emerged as a "promising candidate" for an on-demand contraceptive pill, suggests preliminary research published online in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health.

26 Apr 2022

Researchers investigate Zika virus and Dengue virus co-immunity

In a new study, researchers successfully created new strains of the Zika virus and proved that the process of passaging through mice resulted in significantly increased virulence.

19 Apr 2022

Study finds link between woman's history of infertility and increased heart failure risk

A new study finds that a history of infertility is associated with increased risk of heart failure. Published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital revealed that women who had experienced infertility had a 16% increased risk of heart failure compared with women who did not have an infertility history.

19 Apr 2022

Does COVID-19 vaccination affect IVF treatments?

A new study assesses the impact of COVID-19 vaccination in women undergoing assisted reproduction.

12 Apr 2022

Paternal use of diabetes drug associated with genital birth defects in boys

Boys were more likely to be born with genital birth defects if their fathers took the commonly prescribed diabetes drug metformin in the three months before conception, according to a new study by Stanford Medicine investigators and their collaborators in Denmark.

6 Apr 2022

Fathers’ food choices have a lasting effect on future health of unborn children

What fathers eat has a lasting effect on the future health of their unborn children, new research has revealed.

4 Apr 2022

Researchers develop a fast, inexpensive microfluidic chip for sperm sorting

The female genital tract can be a hostile environment for conception. Out of about 100 million sperm, only a few hundred make it to the fallopian tubes.

31 Mar 2022

Predicting the risk of some common diseases in preimplantation fertilized embryos

A new study uses a novel strategy for whole-genome reconstruction by using parental genome sequencing and sibling embryo genotyping.

23 Mar 2022

Flo; Much more than a period tracker

In this interview, we speak to Sonia Ponzo, the Director of Science at Flo Health, about their app and how it's revolutionizing the field of women's health.

From Flo Health 22 Mar 2022

Coronavirus infection during pregnancy may double the risk of poor outcomes

A Kaiser Permanente analysis of pregnant patients who tested positive for the coronavirus found more than double the risk of poor outcomes including preterm birth, venous thromboembolism (blood clot), and severe maternal morbidity, which includes conditions such as acute respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis.

21 Mar 2022

Weight loss does not provide fertility benefits, study finds

Women who are obese and struggling to become pregnant are often advised to lose weight, but a new study finds no fertility benefits from weight loss.

14 Mar 2022

Anti-Müllerian hormone plays an active role in polycystic ovary syndrome

High levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) have traditionally been thought of as merely a passive byproduct of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but a new preclinical study by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers suggests that the hormone plays an active role in the disorder and may contribute to problems with ovulation and fertility.

10 Mar 2022

Researchers come one step closer to reversing the destructive aging process in egg cells

Throughout much of the world, increasing numbers of women are delaying having their first child until they are in their late thirties, and even into their forties.

8 Mar 2022

$20 million scientific research initiative focuses on disparities in maternal-infant heart health

Poor heart health, especially among women of color, puts both mothers-to-be and their infants at risk, with heart disease causing more than one in four pregnancy-related deaths (26.5%) in the U.S., according to the American Heart Association Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2022 Update.

6 Mar 2022

Blood groups play a key role in whether people develop severe COVID-19, study suggests

A new study has analyzed over 3000 proteins to identify which are causally linked to the development of severe COVID-19.

3 Mar 2022

Research shows intergenerational effects of preconception opioids in male offspring rats

New research from scientists at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University suggests opioid use before pregnancy-; even if not used during pregnancy itself-; could result in a higher likelihood that a mother's male offspring will develop type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, conditions that increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

28 Feb 2022

Why pregnant people were left behind while vaccines moved at ‘warp speed’ to help the masses

Kia Slade was seven months pregnant, unvaccinated, and fighting for breath, her oxygen levels plummeting, when her son came into the world last May.

24 Feb 2022

Periconceptional maternal smoking associated with delay in embryonic development

Smoking by mothers during the period immediately before and after conception is linked to a delay in embryonic development, smaller foetuses at the time of the 20-week ultrasound scan, and lower birth weight.

23 Feb 2022

Childhood obesity more likely to be influenced by lifestyle factors than mother's BMI

Researchers from the University of Bristol and Imperial College London have found that a high Body Mass Index (BMI) of a mother before and during pregnancy is not a major cause of high BMI in their offspring – indicating that childhood and teen obesity is more likely to be a result of lifestyle factors.

1 Feb 2022