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.

Environmental chemicals implicated in cancer

New research at the University of Liverpool suggests that environmental contaminants, such as pesticides, are more influential in causing cancer than previously thought.

21 Mar 2006

Pesticides more influential in causing cancer than previously thought

New research at the University of Liverpool suggests that environmental contaminants, such as pesticides, are more influential in causing cancer than previously thought.

20 Mar 2006

Small birthweight and premature birth may be associated with a higher risk of child abuse and neglect

The findings are based on almost 120,000 children born between 1983 and 2001, who had been placed on the child protection register of one county in south east England

15 Mar 2006

Pregnancy diet has lifelong effects for baby

University of Nottingham researchers are targeting Europe's biggest killer diseases - by focusing on the diet of unborn babies.

8 Mar 2006

Public health effects of exposure to toxic metals

Exposure to toxic elements leads to worrying health problems in many parts of the world, including Europe.

1 Mar 2006

Healthy preterm infants younger than 12 weeks show reduced lung function

Tests of healthy preterm infants younger than 12 weeks of age show prematurity to be independently associated with reduced lung function. Predictors of this reduced expiratory flow during the first months of life include male sex, low gestational age and increased weight gain.

19 Feb 2006

Pregnancy does not provide protection against depression

Pregnancy has historically been described as a time of emotional well-being, providing "protection" against psychiatric disorder, but a new study says the hormonal changes which occur during pregnancy do not protect women from depression, and those taking antidepressants may need to continue despite concerns about fetal damage.

2 Feb 2006

Baby Grace goes home after having heart surgery as a fetus

A baby girl, who had the world's first heart "stent" procedure in the womb was discharged from hospital on Friday and went home 17 days after her birth.

31 Jan 2006

African-American girls have a better chance of survival as premature babies

Extremely premature baby girls, especially those who are African American, are much more likely to survive than extremely premature white boys, according to research published in the January issue of Pediatrics.

26 Jan 2006

Women with endometriosis undergoing IVF benefit from treatment with GnRH agonists

The live birth rate per woman was significantly higher in women with endometriosis who received gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist for three to six months before commencing in vitro fertilisation (IVF), compared to control groups.

25 Jan 2006

Link found between household insecticides and childhood leukaemia

In a report which will be of concern to parents, French researchers say that household insecticides may increase the risk of childhood leukaemia.

17 Jan 2006

Overweight people not interested in healthy lifestyle

According to a poll in the UK more than a quarter of obese and overweight people do not want to lose weight, and many were unable to identify their weight category.

9 Jan 2006

Keep on trying - when you do get pregnant the chances are it will be a boy!

A team of Dutch researchers at Maastricht University say that women who take longer to get pregnant are more likely to give birth to a boy.

19 Dec 2005

Common baby illnesses may trigger cancer

Researchers in the UK say that the common infections that affect mothers and babies may trigger certain types of childhood cancers.

12 Dec 2005

Germany must take action against secondhand smoke

Tobacco smoke in enclosed spaces is not simply a nuisance: it is a threat to health with fatal consequences. This is the conclusion reached by the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) in its latest publication.

12 Dec 2005

Brains of babies born very prematurely do not develop as well as those who are carried to full-term

"We found that in very premature babies, a part of the brain doesn't show normal growth after birth, and in fact some parts of the brain didn't change at all from the day the babies were born until they reached what would have been a full-term birth date."

20 Nov 2005

University of Alberta researchers pioneer gene therapy to restore alveoli and lung capillaries in damaged rat lungs

The good news is that medical advances in perinatal care have allowed us to save many more premature babies. The bad news is they're often at risk of developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia--a chronic lung disease caused by having to place the tiny infants on ventilators and oxygen-rich therapy for acute respiratory failure.

13 Nov 2005

Ultrasound to view heart's interior in three dimensions

Duke University engineers are developing technology that may enable physicians to someday use high frequency ultrasound waves both to visualize the heart's interior in three dimensions and then selectively destroy heart tissue with heat to correct arrhythmias.

7 Nov 2005

Rate of weight gain, not the degree of fatness at any one time, which is the main predictor of future problems

Research published today indicates that the risk of heart disease in adulthood is more strongly related to how quickly children gain weight between the ages of two and eleven than their actual body weight at any particular age. Scientists believe this is linked to differences in insulin processing in later life.

27 Oct 2005

Evidence is mounting to link toxoplasmosis with schizophrenia

Keep pet cats inside, stop feeding strays, cook meat sufficiently and reconsider the way the veterinary profession and public health agencies think - and teach - about the zoonotic pathogen Toxoplasma gondii.

18 Oct 2005