Prenatal News and Research

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Editorial questions proposals to limit health services to undocumented immigrants

The "lack of a clear national policy to more effectively deal with the 12 million to 14 million [undocumented] immigrants now in the country is glaring," a Raleigh News & Observer editorial states. "But the situation is not improved when individual localities adopt harsh and varied measures to try to address the problem within their borders," the editorial adds.

22 Sep 2008

New Jersey Health Commissioner should improve prenatal care resources to address racial, economic disparities, editorial states

The prenatal care report released last week by New Jersey Health Commissioner Heather Howard that found "wide economic and racial disparities" is "startling and ominous" and "requires immediate attention and action," an Asbury Park Press editorial states (Asbury Park Press, 9/9).

11 Sep 2008

Prenatal exposure to pollution a culprit in obesity

According to new research a determining factor as to whether a child is fat or not may be decided before they have even been born.

8 Sep 2008

Prenatal behavioral counseling can reduce some health risk factors among low-income black women

Pregnant black women who participate in a few sessions of behavioral counseling are more likely to reduce certain risky behaviors than those who participate in standard prenatal care, according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, Reuters Health reports.

7 Sep 2008

Minority, single women, teenagers in New Jersey less likely than others to receive prenatal care, report finds

Teenagers, minorities and single women in New Jersey all have a higher risk of poor birth outcomes and also are less likely than others to receive early prenatal care, according to a report released on Wednesday by state Health Commissioner Heather Howard, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

5 Sep 2008

Americanization linked to depression in immigrant women

A study of 439 U.S. and Mexican-born Latinas seeking pregnancy and postpartum services at public health clinics in San Antonio uncovered elevated levels of depression among the more "Americanized" women, report researchers from The University of Texas School of Public Health and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in the most recent online issue of the Maternal and Child Health Journal.

12 Aug 2008

Researchers examine link between prenatal vitamin D levels and schizophrenia

Researchers from UQ's Queensland Brain Institute are set to conduct a world-first trial into the link between prenatal vitamin D levels and schizophrenia prevalence.

3 Aug 2008

Binge drinking in pregnancy increases risk of oral clefts in offspring

A new study by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, shows that pregnant women who binge drink early in their pregnancy increase the likelihood that their babies will be born with oral clefts.

31 Jul 2008

Many pregnant women do not feel well informed by their gynaecologist

A survey carried out among 250 pregnant women showed that 24% of them do not feel adequately informed by their gynaecologist, and almost half do not take part in any prenatal course. The study, prepared by the Head of the Obstetrics Department at the Hospital Clinico San Carlos in Madrid, Miguel Angel Herraiz, also showed that 80% of those surveyed prefer a "medicalised" birth, with epidural anaesthesia, to a natural birth.

17 Jul 2008

Closing coal-fired power plants directly improves cognitive development in children

Closing coal-fired power plants can have a direct, positive impact on children's cognitive development and health according to a study released by the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

14 Jul 2008

UGA discovery could lead to new ways to attack cancers by blocking their ability to grow

Human cancer cells divide and conquer. Unless physicians can control that division with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, the wildly dividing cells will eventually destroy a person's life.

10 Jul 2008

Treatment for cigarette, alcohol and drug use in pregnancy improves outcomes for mother and baby

Pregnant women who receive treatment for substance abuse early in their pregnancy can achieve the same health outcomes as pregnant women with no substance abuse, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the Journal of Perinatology.

27 Jun 2008

Pregnant mums on a high fat diet put daughters at risk later in life

According to new research mothers who eat a high fat diet while pregnant increase their daughters risk of obesity and breast cancer.

17 Jun 2008

Prenatal nutrition and nutrition during childhood interact to alter puberty

A high-fat diet during pregnancy and nursing may lead to the child having an early onset of puberty and subsequent adulthood obesity, according to a new animal study. The results were presented Monday, June 16, at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

16 Jun 2008

Prenatal drug exposure associated with greater sleep problems in children

In the first study across time into late childhood of the effects of prenatal drug exposure on sleep, prenatal drug exposure is associated with greater sleep problems in children.

11 Jun 2008

Guardian examines rise of pregnancies among HIV-positive women in Malawi

London's Guardian on Saturday profiled Grace Mathanga, an HIV-positive pregnant woman living in Malawi whom the newspaper first profiled five years ago.

11 Jun 2008

By-products of water chlorination linked to birth defects

Drinking water disinfected by chlorine while pregnant may increase the risk of having children with heart problems, cleft palate or major brain defects, according to a study published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health.

2 Jun 2008

Smoking during pregnancy and SIDS

A new study provides the most direct evidence that there exists a causal link between smoking during pregnancy and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

1 Jun 2008

Prenatal biochemical screening only detects half of chromosomal abnormalities

Prenatal biochemical screening tests are widely used to look for chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus which can lead to serious handicap, or even death during gestation or in the first few days after birth. But these tests are only able to detect fewer than half of the total chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics tomorrow (Monday 2 June) Dr. Francesca R. Grati, of the TOMA Laboratory, Busto Arsizio, Italy, says that these findings mean that women should be better informed on the limitations of such diagnostic tests.

1 Jun 2008

Avoiding spleen removal for Cooley's anemia sufferers

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College may have discovered the precise role of a gene in one of the world's most common blood disorders, beta-thalassemia, commonly known as Cooley's anemia. Along with sickle-cell anemia, Cooley's anemia is the most commonly inherited disease in the world, affecting many people of Mediterranean descent, and 20 out of every 100,000 African-Americans. The World Health Organization estimates that between 50,000-100,000 children are born with the disease each year.

27 May 2008