Womb News and Research

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The womb is the small, hollow, pear-shaped organ in a woman's pelvis. This is the organ in which a baby grows. Also called uterus.

Researchers track how flu shot during pregnancy affects expectant mothers and babies

Pregnant women and young babies are among those most at risk for complications, hospitalization, and death from the flu.

1 Aug 2017

Culture of silence around vaginal bleeding poses threat to women's health

The culture of silence around vaginal bleeding at all stages of life endangers women's health and is compounded by limited access to clean water, sanitation, and factual information in low and middle-income countries, according to a study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The findings are published in the online journal BMJ Global Health.

31 Jul 2017

Aggressive treatment for hypertension may lead to kidney damage, research suggests

Aggressive combination treatments for high blood pressure that are intended to protect the kidneys may actually be damaging the organs, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine suggests.

18 Jul 2017

Language development may start in utero, study suggests

A month before they are born, fetuses carried by American mothers-to-be can distinguish between someone speaking to them in English and Japanese.

18 Jul 2017

Malaria drug effectively blocks Zika virus transmission to the fetus

Devastating consequences of Zika virus infection are suffered in the womb, where the virus can cause brain damage and sometimes death.

10 Jul 2017

Neuroscientists discover how prenatal alcohol exposure increases risk for drug addiction later in life

One of the many negative consequences, when fetuses are exposed to alcohol in the womb, is an increased risk for drug addiction later in life.

10 Jul 2017

Maternal consumption of alcohol could produce transgenerational effects

Soon-to-be mothers have heard the warning - don't drink while pregnant. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued numerous statements about the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy, as it can lead to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) in newborns.

7 Jul 2017

Barnardo's issues tips to help parents bond with their babies before birth

Start bonding with your baby before birth with these top tips from Barnardo’s during Infant Mental Health Awareness Week.

20 Jun 2017

Being overweight or obese during pregnancy increases risk of birth defects, study finds

The risk of babies being born with major birth defects increases, the more overweight or obese a mother is, according to a Swedish study. The authors of the research say their findings “underline the importance of having a maternal BMI in the normal range before pregnancy” and that efforts should be made to encourage women of reproductive age to adopt a healthy lifestyle and obtain a normal body weight before conception.

15 Jun 2017

Study suggests human embryos not susceptible to dying early as often claimed

How difficult is it to conceive? According to a widely-held view, fewer than one in three embryos make it to term, but a new study from a researcher at the University of Cambridge suggests that human embryos are not as susceptible to dying in the first weeks after fertilization as often claimed.

13 Jun 2017

Obesity and overweight epidemic – A study from 195 countries over quarter of a century

The terms overweight and obesity refer to an excess amount body of fat that may be detrimental to health.

12 Jun 2017

Alcohol consumption during pregnancy may cause subtle facial changes in babies says new study

According to a newly published study, consuming moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy may cause some distinct facial changes in babies. These subtle changes in the facial features of the babies are non-detectable with the naked eye said researchers. They can be detected using a 3D analysis they said. The changes in the facial features of the babies included those to the nose, lips and eyes that were picked up by the computer. These changes could be seen in babies whose mothers took any amount of alcohol during pregnancy.

7 Jun 2017

New study establishes link between prenatal stress and onset of eating disorders

Stress affects the body and can trigger illness -- from psychiatric disorders to heart disease. Humans are exposed to stress at different intensities throughout life -- as children, in adolescence, and in old age. But when is the impact of stress on our systems most powerful? Many researchers maintain that the critical effect occurs prenatally, inside the womb.

1 Jun 2017

Long-term stress for the mother can influence growth of unborn child through amniotic fluid

The feeling of constantly being on edge, always having to take care of everything, not being able to find a balance: If an expectant mother is strongly stressed over a longer period of time, the risk of the unborn child developing a mental or physical illness later in life - such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or cardiovascular disease - increases.

30 May 2017

Physical stress to mother during pregnancy can influence growth of unborn child

If the mother is stressed over a longer period of time during pregnancy, the concentration of stress hormones in amniotic fluid rises, as proven by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Zurich. Short-term stress situations, however, do not seem to have an unfavorable effect on the development of the fetus.

29 May 2017

Study suggests Zika virus poses wider threat in human pregnancies

Zika virus infection passes efficiently from a pregnant monkey to its fetus, spreading inflammatory damage throughout the tissues that support the fetus and the fetus's developing nervous system, and suggesting a wider threat in human pregnancies than generally appreciated.

25 May 2017

Study finds two genetic variants linked to bicuspid aortic valve development

Researchers are working to determine why the aortic valve doesn't form correctly in patients with the most common congenital heart defect: bicuspid aortic valve.

25 May 2017

Preterm infants have higher risk of heart failure than babies born at full term

Babies born preterm run a higher risk of heart failure during childhood and adolescence than those born at full term, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report.

22 May 2017

Research findings may provide answers for infertility in older women

Findings from new research led by the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and University College London may finally resolve, and potentially provide answers, as to why older women have higher incidences of miscarriage and have babies with chromosomal abnormalities.

18 May 2017

Scientists identify unusual mutations in endometriosis using gene sequencing tools

Using gene sequencing tools, scientists from Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of British Columbia have found a set of genetic mutations in samples from 24 women with benign endometriosis, a painful disorder marked by the growth of uterine tissue outside of the womb.

11 May 2017