Prenatal News and Research

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Fluoride's safety under scrutiny as study finds prenatal exposure may impair cognition

Exposure to fluoride during pregnancy and childhood may negatively impact children's cognitive abilities. Even low fluoride levels below international standards are associated with lower perceptual and verbal reasoning scores.

9 Mar 2025

Fluoride exposure during early childhood may harm cognitive abilities

Elevated concentrations of fluoride can occur in well water, and in some countries, it is added to drinking water to counteract caries in the population.

7 Mar 2025

DEVOTION focuses on understanding birth trauma and optimizing birth experience

As we mark International Women's Day tomorrow on March 8, the story of the COST Action on Perinatal Mental Health and Birth-Related Trauma: Maximizing best practice and optimal outcomes (DEVoTION) is a powerful example of how collaborative research can both advance women's health and support the next generation of women researchers.

7 Mar 2025

Researchers discover brain's ability to reorganize sensory maps after loss of touch

A team of researchers from the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University (UMH) in Elche, has discovered that the developing brain can reorganize its sensory maps when the sense of touch is affected.

6 Mar 2025

Psychosocial stress during pregnancy may raise blood pressure after birth

Psychosocial stress during pregnancy could lead to higher blood pressure during the first year postpartum according to research from Keck School of Medicine of USC.

5 Mar 2025

Maternity care costs significantly higher for racial and ethnic groups

A new study out today in JAMA Health Forum is the first to show that Black, Hispanic and Asian people with private insurance tend to pay more out-of-pocket for maternity care than white people.

28 Feb 2025

Vaping while pregnant isn't harmless—study uncovers risks to newborn lung health

Researchers found that e-cigarette exposure during pregnancy can disrupt fetal lung development, increase oxidative stress, and heighten the risk of respiratory diseases in newborns.

27 Feb 2025

New gene therapy strategy could cure COPA Syndrome

Scientists compared five families and multiple generations to find a gene variant that prevents COPA Syndrome and opens the door to a new gene therapy for the condition.

27 Feb 2025

PFAS exposure via drinking water contamination may play a role in childhood cancer risk

A study led by the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health at the University of California, Irvine has revealed possible links between exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water and an increased risk of certain childhood cancers.

26 Feb 2025

Early pregnancy nutrition impacts child's motor development at age 5-6

A healthy diet in early pregnancy supports the child's motor development at the age of 5-6 years. Higher maternal body fat mass, on the other hand, has an adverse effect on the child's motor development.

25 Feb 2025

Routine psychological screening can improve maternal cardiovascular health

Integrating routine psychological health screening and treatment during and after pregnancy may reduce the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and improve maternal cardiovascular health, according to a new scientific statement published today in a Go Red for Women spotlight issue of the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

25 Feb 2025

Study links fetal acetaminophen exposure to increased risk of ADHD

Fetal acetaminophen exposure increases the likelihood that a child will develop attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a study published Feb. 6 in Nature Mental Health.

21 Feb 2025

First prenatal treatment for spinal muscular atrophy shows promising results

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder set in motion before birth. Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital led the first in uterotreatment of SMA with the orally administered drug risdiplam.

20 Feb 2025

Do prenatal antibiotics weaken breast milk immunity? A new study aims to find out

A new study will investigate whether prenatal antibiotic use impairs breast milk immune function and disrupts neonatal gut microbiota, potentially affecting infant health. Researchers aim to assess how prolonged antibiotic exposure in late pregnancy alters breast milk IgA and neonatal immune development.

19 Feb 2025