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High maternal sensitivity reduces the risk of later emotional and behavioral problems

A mother's warm, timely, and appropriate responses to her child's needs support the child's development and help protect against emotional and behavioral difficulties later in life. A new study shows that sensitive parent-child interactions help reduce risks associated with preterm birth.

10 Jul 2026

GLP-1 exposure in pregnancy does not clearly raise major birth defect risk

A systematic review and meta-analysis of seven cohort studies involving more than 40,000 GLP-1 receptor agonist-exposed pregnancies found no statistically significant increase in major congenital malformations or several other adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, the evidence was low or very low certainty, and a urinary malformation signal based on unadjusted data requires cautious interpretation.

10 Jul 2026

Pediatric mental health treatment surged after the pandemic

When schools closed in the spring of 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of children and adolescents receiving mental health treatment in the United States fell by more than half.

9 Jul 2026

Silk patch enables painless monitoring of premature babies' health

In the neonatal intensive care unit, the most fragile patients in medicine are often the most heavily wired. Premature babies, some weighing less than a pound, can be tethered to a tangle of cables, monitors, and sensors.

9 Jul 2026

Tufts study shows global intake of healthy plant-based foods remains low among youth

Healthy plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, and legumes are the foundation of a healthy diet for anyone, no matter how old they are.

9 Jul 2026

Babies process music long before they dance to it

The study uncovers how infants' brains respond to music, revealing that coordinated movement with beats develops after the first year, influencing musicality.

9 Jul 2026

Maternal diet may subtly shape breast milk immune signals

Research indicates that maternal dietary patterns can subtly affect the immune composition of breast milk, with implications for infant immune development.

9 Jul 2026

Trial offers hope for babies with fetal kidney failure

Women diagnosed early in pregnancy with a fetus lacking adequate kidney function to make the urine that serves as vital amniotic fluid have long faced virtually no chance of their fetus's survival after birth.

8 Jul 2026

Customized fetal growth charts could reduce avoidable stillbirths across the NHS

One-size-fits-all fetal growth charts used in the NHS to monitor babies' growth before birth often misclassify babies as being either too small or too large, which can lead to missed cases at risk of stillbirth or unnecessary interventions, finds a study of over 3 million NHS births across England published by The BMJ today.

8 Jul 2026

Early detection of congenital cerebral ventriculomegaly can help prevent developmental disabilities

Early detection and treatment of congenital cerebral ventriculomegaly (CCV)-when a fetus's fluid-filled brain ventricles swell due to a condition called hydrocephalus-can help clinicians prevent developmental or neurological disabilities in affected infants.

8 Jul 2026

Illinois study outlines gaps in emergency pediatric mental healthcare

When a child is experiencing a mental health crisis, families increasingly turn to the emergency department for help.

8 Jul 2026

Early skin-to-skin contact helps calm newborns but does not lower bilirubin

Early skin-to-skin contact after vaginal birth reduced newborn stress during routine vitamin K injection and improved exclusive breastfeeding rates by day 5. However, it did not significantly lower day-5 bilirubin levels, leaving its effect on neonatal jaundice uncertain.

7 Jul 2026

Infants begin moving to music within the first year of life

Researchers have discovered that music begins to shape how we move within the first year of life.

7 Jul 2026

Telepractice resilience program helps stuttering children build coping skills

A new University of Mississippi-led study suggests that a telepractice resilience program may help children who stutter develop coping and self-advocacy skills.

7 Jul 2026

New Mount Sinai center focuses on advancing personalized treatments for peanut allergy

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have been awarded a five-year, $7.2 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to establish a new Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Center focused on advancing personalized treatment strategies for peanut allergy.

7 Jul 2026

Phenolic compounds linked to precocious puberty or early breast development in girls

Research from the University of Granada, recently published in the European Journal of Pediatrics, has revealed that girls with higher levels of bisphenol A (a component of plastics and epoxy-phenolic resins) and benzophenones (ultraviolet filters) in their urine are more likely to experience precocious puberty or early breast development.

7 Jul 2026

Study reveals long-term, intergenerational impacts of severe preconception trauma

Can the trauma of a parent rewrite the mental health of a child born decades later? A new compelling study reveals that children born decades after the Holocaust to parents who were older than age five at the time of the initial Nazi persecutions faced elevated schizophrenia risk.

7 Jul 2026

ADHD and autism traits share a common developmental spectrum

Research identifies a neurodevelopmental spectrum for ADHD and autism, emphasizing genetic links and their impact on cognitive and educational outcomes.

7 Jul 2026

Meat and dairy cuts may improve health without raising food costs

A Scottish microsimulation study found that reducing meat and dairy intake, especially red meat among high consumers, could improve modeled health and environmental outcomes without increasing diet costs. However, some nutrient intakes, particularly calcium and iodine, declined, highlighting the need for carefully planned substitutions and fortified alternatives.

6 Jul 2026

Researchers identify a distinct subtype of eosinophilic esophagitis in children

Researchers from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago identified a distinct subtype of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) – a chronic allergic inflammatory disorder in which the esophagus narrows, interfering with food going down properly.

6 Jul 2026