Prenatal News and Research

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State roundup: Wis. insurance savings; N.Y. major hospital merger possible; psychiatric hospitals' hard times

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton claimed the first major success of his drive to improve government efficiency Thursday, saying a competitive-bidding process for state health insurance programs will save $242 million in the next two years. …. Republicans, who control the state House and Senate, launched an extension of their own government-efficiency plans - labeled "Reform 2.0" - in August.

22 Oct 2011

A more accurate blood test to detect fetal Downs syndrome launched

Pregnant mothers in the U.S. who wish to know whether they're carrying a fetus with Down syndrome now have access to a commercial genetic blood test that has a 99 per cent accuracy rate.

20 Oct 2011

American Academy of Pediatrics expands guidelines on safe sleep for babies

Since the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended all babies should be placed on their backs to sleep in 1992, deaths from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome have declined dramatically. But sleep-related deaths from other causes, including suffocation, entrapment and asphyxia, have increased.

19 Oct 2011

New DNA-based prenatal blood test can identify pregnancy with Down syndrome

A new DNA-based prenatal blood test that can strikingly reduce the number of risky diagnostic procedures needed to identify a pregnancy with Down syndrome is ready to be introduced into clinical practice.

18 Oct 2011

FDA clears BioHelix IsoAmp HSV molecular diagnostic assay

BioHelix Corporation has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the company's first molecular diagnostic assay, the IsoAmp HSV Assay. The diagnostic test is intended for the detection of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV1 & HSV2) in genital and oral lesion specimens from symptomatic patients.

18 Oct 2011

Founder of Every Mother Counts to address AAP National Conference

Fashion model and Global Maternal Health Advocate Christy Turlington Burns will speak at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on International Child Health meeting at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition in Boston on Saturday, Oct. 15, from 4:15-5 p.m. ET.

15 Oct 2011

AMCs must make systematic changes to improve quality of life, productivity of their faculty

Academic medical centers (AMCs) must make systematic changes to improve quality of life—and thus productivity—of their faculty, according to a commentary that will appear in the October 12 issue of Science Translational Medicine.

14 Oct 2011

Study explores link between BPA exposure and breast cancer

Chronic low-level exposure to a compound found in a variety of plastic household items could pose a threat to women who overproduce a protein linked with breast cancer, say researchers at University of Alabama at Birmingham.

13 Oct 2011

Diethylstilbestrol in utero affects immune system of the fetus

A synthetic estrogen — diethylstilbestrol (DES), prescribed to women in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s to prevent miscarriages, had serious, untoward effects in daughters of these women, including the development of a rare type of cancer of the uterus.

11 Oct 2011

A healthy diet during pregnancy can reduce the risk of birth defects: Study

The researchers say that the birth defects like brain and spine problems, called neural tube defects, as well as cleft lip and cleft palate were less common in mothers who closely followed either a Mediterranean diet or the food guide pyramid.

6 Oct 2011

Low plasma level of copper and zinc in pregnant women may be associated with spontaneous abortion

Scientists at the University of Granada have confirmed that a low plasma level of copper and zinc in pregnant women may be a factor associated with spontaneous abortion, a hypothesis that had not been confirmed to date, and which had never been proven in humans before.

28 Sep 2011

Prenatal exercise improves brain plasticity and prevents Alzheimer's in offspring

If you are pregnant, here's another reason to work out: you will reduce the chances of your new baby developing neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, later in life.

27 Sep 2011

No link between chemotherapy during pregnancy and children's cognitive development

Children born after their mothers were treated with chemotherapy during pregnancy appear to be unaffected by the experience in terms of the development of their mental processes and the normal functioning of their hearts, according to new research presented at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress.

27 Sep 2011

Project REACH to reduce risk of postpartum depression in adolescent mothers

More than 400,000 adolescent girls will give birth in the United States each year, and about one in four of them will experience postpartum depression.

23 Sep 2011

Financial and political commitments to improve health of women and children

In only one year, more than 100 countries, foundations, multilateral organizations, the UN, the private sector, and academic and professional associations have made unprecedented financial and political commitments to greatly improve the health of women and children.

21 Sep 2011

NC researchers proposes health-based approach to identify groups at high risk of genocide

Researchers from North Carolina State University are proposing a health-based approach to identifying groups at high risk of genocide, in a first-of-its-kind attempt to target international efforts to stop these mass killings before they start.

20 Sep 2011

A woman's pregnancy outcome can be an indicator of future health conditions

"A woman's pregnancy outcome can be an indicator of future health conditions," stated George R. Saade, M.D., president of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

14 Sep 2011