Prenatal News and Research

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TAPP awarded grant to support reproductive health care programs for pregnant teens in DC

Teenage girls in the District of Columbia's Anacostia neighborhood are twice more likely to become teen mothers than their peers in other parts of the city, and almost three times more likely than the national average.

4 Jun 2015

Everyday Health, Wildflower Health partner to improve health outcomes in pregnant women

Everyday Health, Inc., a leading digital health and wellness company, today announced a strategic partnership with Wildflower Health. Through this partnership, Everyday Health expands its suite of offerings to help health plans and employers reach and engage pregnant women earlier in their pregnancies to improve health outcomes and reduce medical costs.

3 Jun 2015

Group Health Research Institute conducts first randomized trial to tackle vaccine hesitancy

Group Health Research Institute conducted the first randomized trial to test an intervention aimed at improving hesitancy about early childhood vaccines by working directly with doctors. Vax Northwest, a Washington state public-private partnership, developed the intervention.

2 Jun 2015

Pivotal Therapeutics reports net loss of $1.2 million for first quarter 2015

Pivotal Therapeutics Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus on Omega-3 therapies for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and overall health, announced its operational highlights and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2015.

2 Jun 2015

Cancer genetic counselor helps patients make sense of genetics and statistics

Cancer was the second leading cause of death in the United States in 2013 and the American Cancer Society expects almost 10,000 new cases in New Mexico this year.

1 Jun 2015

Panorama SNP-based non-invasive prenatal test can detect complete molar pregnancy

Natera, Inc., a leader in non-invasive genetic testing, today announced a study published in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology demonstrating that the Panorama single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) can identify a complete molar pregnancy in the first trimester.

From Natera 28 May 2015

Pre-pregnancy maternal weight has significant impact on baby's immune system

Almost 60 percent of women of childbearing age in the United States are overweight or obese. Obesity is a major public health issue, and has been linked to health problems like heart disease, cancer and hypertension. It can complicate pregnancy by increasing the mother's risk of having gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, preterm birth or a baby with birth defects. Maternal obesity is also linked to several adverse health outcomes for the infant that can persist into adulthood, such as type-2 diabetes, heart disease and mortality.

19 May 2015

Study evaluates prenatal nutrition and genome-wide DNA patterns in adults exposed to malnutrition

Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and Leiden University in the Netherlands found that children whose mothers were malnourished at famine levels during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy had changes in DNA methylation known to suppress genes involved in growth, development, and metabolism documented at age 59.

15 May 2015

Bathing patients in common hospital soap can reduce MRSA contamination

Holding hope for a relatively inexpensive way to improve care and prevent the spread of deadly hospital-acquired infections, a new study reports that bathing patients in a common hospital soap, called chlorhexidine, was equally effective in preventing the transmission of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as the common practice of having healthcare workers avoid physical contact with the patients.

14 May 2015

Scientists identify gene that causes hereditary hypertension and brachydactyly type E

Individuals with this altered gene have hereditary hypertension (high blood pressure) and at the same time a skeletal malformation called brachydactyly type E, which is characterized by unusually short fingers and toes. The effect on blood pressure is so serious that -- if left untreated -- it most often leads to death before age fifty.

11 May 2015

Air pollution, poverty significantly lower IQ in children

Children born to mothers experiencing economic hardship, who were also exposed during pregnancy to high levels of PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), scored significantly lower on IQ tests at age 5 compared with children born to mothers with greater economic security and less exposure to the pollutants.

30 Apr 2015

Scientific study confirms harmful effect of submicroscopic malarial infections during pregnancy

A scientific study conducted in Benin by researchers from IRD and the Centre for study and research on pregnancy associated malaria and infancy (CERPAGE, Benin) confirms the harmful impact of submicroscopic malarial infections during pregnancy. These complications include maternal anaemia, premature births and low birthweights in children.

28 Apr 2015

Natera, LifeLabs sign new agreement for non-invasive prenatal testing in Canada

Natera, Inc., a global leader in non-invasive genetic testing, and LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services today announced a new agreement that gives LifeLabs the rights to perform non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in Canada using Natera technology.

From Natera 25 Apr 2015

Prenatal antidepressant exposure increases anxiety symptoms

Three-year-old siblings exposed to antidepressants in pregnancy show increased anxiety symptoms compared to their unexposed siblings.

21 Apr 2015

New CUMC study finds DNA anomalies in kids with chronic kidney disease

A significant proportion of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have unsuspected chromosomal imbalances, including DNA anomalies that have been linked to neurocognitive disorders, according to a new Columbia University Medical Center study.

21 Apr 2015

New study finds that breastfeeding may help reduce smoking

While a large number of women quit or reduce smoking upon pregnancy recognition, many resume smoking postpartum. Previous research has estimated that approximately 70% of women who quit smoking during pregnancy relapse within the first year after childbirth, and of those who relapse, 67% resume smoking by three months, and up to 90% by six months.

17 Apr 2015

Robert B. Kiningham receives Founders' Award at 2015 AMSSM Annual Meeting

Robert B. Kiningham, MD, was awarded the Founders' Award at the 24th American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in Hollywood, Fla. The award is bestowed when AMSSM leadership determines that a member exemplifies the best that a sports medicine physician can be and do.

16 Apr 2015

Pivotal enters into sales, distribution agreement for BeneFishial family of products

Pivotal Therapeutics Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus on Omega-3 therapies for cardiovascular disease and overall health, announced today that it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Korea Animal Medical Science Institute and its newly created affiliate for the exclusive sales and distribution of the BeneFishial family of products.

15 Apr 2015

Humans carry recessive disease mutations that can cause severe genetic disorders or prenatal death

Humans carry an average of one to two mutations per person that can cause severe genetic disorders or prenatal death when two copies of the same mutation are inherited, according to estimates published today in the journal GENETICS.

9 Apr 2015

TSRI scientists find molecular trigger of schizophrenia-like behaviors and brain changes

According to the World Health Organization, more than 21 million people worldwide suffer from schizophrenia, a severe psychiatric disorder that can cause delusions and hallucinations and lead to increased risk of suicide...

8 Apr 2015