Prenatal News and Research

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Sea squirt study unravels complex mechanisms underlying heart defects

Each year in the U.S., approximately 40,000 babies are born with a heart defect. Without the proper diagnosis and treatment, many of these babies would die before their first birthday, according to Dr. Scott Klewer, a cardiologist at the UA's College of Medicine.

12 Apr 2011

Exercising during pregnancy improves child's heart health after birth

Moms-to-be long have been told by their doctors and baby-related books and websites that staying fit during pregnancy is good for both mother and child. When it was reported a couple of years back that exercising strengthens a fetus' heart control, many pregnant women took heed and hit the ground running, literally. Some signed up for prenatal yoga classes; others found new ways to incorporate low-impact aerobic activities into their daily lives.

7 Apr 2011

Positive data from PROCHIEVE vaginal progesterone Phase III study published in peer-reviewed journal

Columbia Laboratories, Inc., and Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced the publication of Phase III PROCHIEVE® (progesterone gel) data in today's online version of Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the leading peer-reviewed journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

7 Apr 2011

Progesterone gel can reduce preterm birth in women with short cervix

A groundbreaking clinical study of a new method for preventing premature birth in millions of women each year, published in the medical journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, shows that the rate of early preterm delivery in women can be reduced by 45 percent - simply by treating pregnant women at risk with a low-cost gel of natural progesterone during the midtrimester of pregnancy until term.

7 Apr 2011

New amniochip to detect 150 genetic genetic syndromes

Genetadi Biotech has presented to the scientific community - meeting at the XXVI National Congress on Human Genetics held in Murcia - a prenatal diagnostic device based on amniocentesis.

6 Apr 2011

NEB, Sequenom sign deal to commercialize research tools for epigenetics

New England Biolabs, Inc. and Sequenom, Inc. jointly announce that they have signed a licensing and co-marketing agreement to commercialize research tools for epigenetics.

From New England Biolabs 6 Apr 2011

State roundup: Report urges Mass. city employees to pay more health costs

Officially, Minnesota doesn't pay for an intensive type of autism therapy. Yet it has -- but only for some families. Two years ago, a single mother in the Twin Cities asked the state Medicaid program to pay for an intensive type of autism therapy for her 2-year-old son. She was turned down. State officials said the treatment -- known as Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA -- is "not now, and never has been,'' a covered service.

6 Apr 2011

Study examines plant-soil relationship and uptake of contaminants in ryegrass

The environmental concern is great when considering the role of toxic contaminants in the plant-soil relationship. Understanding plant's absorption and accumulation of these contaminants from the soil would be incredibly beneficial.

30 Mar 2011

Maternal childhood maltreatment can affect offspring's health

Mothers who were maltreated as children have increased risk for giving birth to low birth weight babies. The findings, by researchers at the University of Washington, are the first to show that maternal maltreatment can affect the health of offspring.

30 Mar 2011

FDA clears new BD ProbeTec Qx Amplified DNA Assays to detect HSV 1 and 2

Clinicians now have a new tool to help diagnose symptomatic patients with Herpes Simplex Viruses -- one of the most common sexually transmitted infections in the world.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 29 Mar 2011

First open fetal surgery to treat lung malformations performed at Texas Children's Hospital

Experts from Texas Children's Fetal Center published a study that appears in volume 46, issue 2 of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery documenting the first successful cases of open fetal surgery to treat fetal lung malformations in the Southern U.S.

28 Mar 2011

Medical experts: Nation needs to offer more confidential care for sexually active teens

After reviewing existing research regarding the common practices of health care providers who see adolescent patients across the country, Rebecca Allen, MD, MPH, a clinician and researcher at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, and her colleague, Michelle Forcier, MD, MPH, an adolescent medicine specialist at Hasbro Children's Hospital, asserted that the nation needs to offer more confidential care for teenagers who are sexually active.

25 Mar 2011

New study: Minority women may face risk of prenatal depression during pregnancy

A new study finds that African-American and Asian/Pacific Islander women have double the risk that others do of becoming depressed before giving birth, after adjusting for socioeconomic risk factors.

23 Mar 2011

Iron deficiency during pregnancy may impact child's brain development

A mother's iron deficiency early in pregnancy may have a profound and long-lasting effect on the brain development of the child, even if the lack of iron is not enough to cause severe anemia, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study published in the scientific journal PLoS One.

23 Mar 2011

March of Dimes awards Healthy Babies Healthy Business Seal of Approval to The Children's Hospital in Denver

The March of Dimes today announced it has awarded its first-ever Healthy Babies Healthy Business Seal of Approval, to The Children's Hospital in Denver. Children's becomes the first organization in Colorado - and the nation - to earn this new certification.

21 Mar 2011

Roundup: Kan., Calif. budget cuts; Texas NICU costs; Katrina trial; Medco CalPERS contract 'dumped'

This list of programs cut in the California state budget includes a 10 percent reduction in what the state pays for Medi-Cal patients at all long-term care facilities $172.3 million and a 10 percent reduction in what the state pays to physicians who see people on Medi-Cal.

21 Mar 2011

Prenatal alcohol exposure another risk for conduct disorder

Alcohol use during pregnancy is common and is associated with significant threats to the health and development of exposed offspring. Despite warnings from the Surgeon General to limit alcohol use if pregnant or contemplating pregnancy, a recent survey by the National Birth Defects Prevention Study(1) found that nearly one-third of women drank alcohol at some time during their pregnancy, with one-fourth of the women surveyed having drunk during the first trimester.

21 Mar 2011

Smoking during pregnancy increases risk of children becoming smokers too

New research has revealed that prenatal exposure to nicotine increases the vulnerability to nicotine self-administration in adolescent mice. The results support the hypothesis that adolescents with prenatal nicotine exposure are more likely to start smoking earlier than their peers and that they are also more susceptible to the addictive effects of nicotine, especially as a result of stress and peer pressure.

21 Mar 2011

Research links giftedness to prenatal exposure of testosterone

A longstanding debate as to whether genius is a byproduct of good genes or good environment has an upstart challenger that may take the discussion in an entirely new direction. University of Alberta researcher Marty Mrazik says being bright may be due to an excess level of a natural hormone.

14 Mar 2011

Bad relationship with partner is the strongest predictor of maternal emotional distress

Pregnancy is meant to be a joyous time however some women experience overwhelming 'baby blues' before the birth of their child. Anxiety and depression during pregnancy can result in premature birth, or low birth weight, and impact the child's health even into early school years.

14 Mar 2011