Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Study traces adult heart disease risk back to the womb

A child's future heart health may be partially shaped before they are born, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study that found pregnancy complications are linked to poorer cardiovascular health in offspring more than 20 years later.

14 May 2026

Art history may help doctors better understand obesity stigma

Understanding how obesity has been portrayed in art across the ages can make doctors more empathic and less judgmental, which should lead to their patients achieving better outcomes, new reasearch at this year's European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026) argues.

14 May 2026

Pregnancy not linked to increased myasthenia gravis flare-up risk

For female participants with myasthenia gravis, pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk of serious flare-ups of the disease, or new or worsening symptoms, according to a study published May 13, 2026, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

13 May 2026

Survey finds one in three women suffer silently with pelvic prolapse

Up to half of all women will experience some degree of pelvic organ prolapse in their lifetime. The condition can cause incontinence, constipation and the descent of the bladder or uterus into the vagina.

13 May 2026

Perimenopausal women face higher risk of low heart health

Perimenopausal women were two times more likely to have a low cardiovascular health score compared to women having regular menstrual cycles, according to an analysis of nationwide U.S. data published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

13 May 2026

Blood-cell X chromosome loss may predict lower natural fertility

A study reveals that mosaic loss of the X chromosome in blood cells may indicate reduced natural conception likelihood in women, linking fertility and aging.

13 May 2026

Endometriosis increases risk of some birth defects in infants

Research indicates women with endometriosis may face a higher risk of congenital anomalies in infants, emphasizing the need for further investigation.

13 May 2026

Maternal workplace exposures may increase autism risk in children

Mothers who work in jobs where they are frequently exposed to toxic chemicals or experience high stress have higher odds of having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), suggest the findings of original research published online in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

12 May 2026

Loss of X chromosome linked to female infertility risk

Chromosomes carry genetic information for biological sex, which generally assigns women two X chromosomes and men XY chromosomes.

12 May 2026

Maternal insulin resistance linked to higher abdominal fat in girls

Girls born to mothers with higher insulin resistance during the third trimester are more likely to have more abdominal fat at age 7, according to research presented at the 28th European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague.

12 May 2026

Why are so many mothers missing diabetes follow-up after childbirth?

A New York City cohort study found that few women with postpartum-onset diabetes received guideline-recommended A1C monitoring over three years. Non-Hispanic Black women and mothers with more children faced lower monitoring rates, while Medicaid coverage was linked to better follow-up.

11 May 2026

Physician mothers return to work sooner than many Canadian parents, study finds

Ontario physicians increased their workload in the first two trimesters of pregnancy, suggesting many may frontload clinical work before parental leave. Parental leave varied widely by specialty, with surgeons returning earliest and psychiatrists returning latest, highlighting persistent inequities in how medical practice supports childbearing physicians.

11 May 2026

Infant exposure to environmental chemicals linked to lower bone density

Infants exposed to certain environmental chemicals, including breast milk and everyday products such as personal care items, are more likely to have lower bone density in the first year of their lives, according to research presented at the 28th European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague.

11 May 2026

Partners of women with gestational diabetes face higher health risks

Partners of women with gestational diabetes have more health-related risk factors and morbidity than partners of women without gestational diabetes.

11 May 2026

Prenatal progesterone exposure alters brain development genes in male fetuses

Excessive exposure to progesterone in the womb can alter a gene in the frontal cortex in male sheep fetuses, which is needed for brain development and function, according to research presented at the 28th European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague.

11 May 2026

Exercise or caffeine? Study finds neither clearly beats placebo for mental fatigue

Researchers compare the effects of caffeine and aerobic exercise on mental fatigue in adults.

10 May 2026

Cash prescription program associated with fewer infant maltreatment investigations

A new peer-reviewed study published in JAMA Pediatrics provides rigorous, population-level evidence that Michigan State University's Rx Kids program, the nation's first community-wide prenatal and infant cash prescription program, is associated with substantial reductions in child maltreatment investigations among infants.

8 May 2026

Kyoto University identifies a key regulator of insulin production

A hallmark of Type 2 diabetes is the progressive loss of beta cell mass: cells in the pancreas that produce and release insulin. The endoplasmic reticulum stress response, a cellular pathway that maintains protein homeostasis, plays a critical role in beta cell function and survival, and the protein ATF6α is one of the key regulators of this stress response.

7 May 2026

Birth weight predicts kidney function during endurance exercise

Researchers investigate how birth weight determines kidney function changes following prolonged physical activity in different environmental conditions.

7 May 2026

Calla Lily Clinical Care doses first patients in clinical trial for intravaginal drug delivery platform for threatened miscarriage

Calla Lily Clinical Care, a women’s health-focused medical technology company, today announced dosing of the first patients in the FREEDOM clinical trial.

6 May 2026