Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Protein in blood can predict improper growth of fetus

Researchers from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) have found a protein in the blood of pregnant women that can predict if they are likely to have a fetus that doesn't grow properly, and thus has a high risk of stillbirth and long-term health complications.

22 Jun 2012

Moderate alcohol intake during pregnancy does not influence child's development and intelligence

Children born by mothers who have of consumed between 1 and 6 alcohol units per week are just as intelligent and well-developed as children of abstaining mothers. Mothers who have been drinking 5 or more drinks on a single occasion a limited number of times before realizing that they were pregnant may also breathe a sigh of relief; their children have not been harmed.

22 Jun 2012

Contingency management programs an effective way to reduce smoking in pregnant women

Cigarette smoking among drug dependent pregnant women is alarmingly high, estimated at 77 to 99%. Programs that treat pregnant patients for substance use disorders often fail to address cigarette smoking despite the clear risks to both mother and child, including ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, preterm delivery, low birth weight, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. However, programs to help people quit smoking do not seem to interfere with drug abuse treatment, and may actually improve drug abstinence rates.

22 Jun 2012

CRN releases 'The Benefits of Nutritional Supplements'

The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the dietary supplement industry's leading trade association, today released its comprehensive report, The Benefits of Nutritional Supplements.

21 Jun 2012

Healthy timing, spacing of pregnancy essential in family planning

"USAID promotes Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy as a vital family planning intervention that helps ensure that pregnancies occur at the healthiest times in a woman's life," Maureen Norton, healthy timing and spacing technical adviser for USAID, writes in USAID's "IMPACTblog."

21 Jun 2012

What's at stake in the much-anticipated high court health law decision?

News outlets report on how the ruling will impact seniors, women and states, among other stakeholders. Reports also examine what might happen if the individual mandate is overturned but other elements of the law are left intact.

21 Jun 2012

Foods fortified with folic acid can prevent neural tube defects

Wheat flour milled in Nigeria will soon be fortified with folic acid, a B vitamin known for preventing serious or fatal birth defects of the spine and brain. Women who may become pregnant are encouraged to daily choose foods fortified with this essential vitamin because it can prevent the majority of these devastating birth defects known as neural tube defects.

21 Jun 2012

Children exposed to HIV before birth may be more likely to experience hearing loss

Children exposed to HIV in the womb may be more likely to experience hearing loss by age 16 than are their unexposed peers, according to scientists in a National Institutes of Health research network.

21 Jun 2012

NewYork-Presbyterian/WCMC join new MDS Clinical Research Consortium

NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center is one of six institutions selected to join the newly-founded MDS Clinical Research Consortium.

20 Jun 2012

Teen mothers more likely to suffer abuse and postpartum depression than older moms

Teen mothers are far more likely to suffer abuse and postpartum depression than older moms, according to a study of Canadian women's maternity experiences by a University of Alberta researcher.

20 Jun 2012

Researchers unlock structure of STING protein

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have unlocked the structure of a key protein that, when sensing certain viruses and bacteria, triggers the body's immediate immune response.

20 Jun 2012

Inserm researchers examine effect of night work on women’s health

Breast cancer is the number one cause of female mortality. It affects 100 out of 100,000 women per year in developed countries. Each year, more than 1.3 million new cases are diagnosed, 53,000 of these in France. The risk factors of breast cancer are varied. They include genetic mutations, late first pregnancy, low parity or hormone therapy, but other causes of breast cancer such as way of life, environmental or professional causes have not yet been completely identified.

20 Jun 2012

Latest allergy research presented at EAACI Congress 2012

Ground-breaking research results about stress during pregnancy and changes in pollen potency across Europe will be presented - among other novel research - at the world's leading congress on allergy and immunology - the EAACI Congress 2012 - that will open tomorrow in Geneva, Switzerland.

16 Jun 2012

Governments, private sector partners come together at Child Survival Call to Action in Washington

The two-day Child Survival Call to Action, "a conference hosted by the government in collaboration with Ethiopia, India and UNICEF to recognize and promote efforts to curtail child mortality," began in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports, noting that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and actor Ben Affleck, founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative, "were two of more than 80 governmental, civil society and business leaders slated to speak at the conference Thursday and Friday."

16 Jun 2012

LFA announces 2012 Gina M. Finzi Memorial Student Fellowship Program grantees

The Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) is pleased to announce the 2012 Gina M. Finzi Memorial Student Fellowship Program grantees. This unique program, established more than 25 years ago by former LFA President Dr. Sergio Finzi in honor of his daughter Gina who passed away from lupus, seeks to cultivate an interest in lupus research among young scientists by funding basic, clinical, translational, epidemiological, and behavioral research studies under the supervision of an established investigator.

15 Jun 2012

The Healing Group launches Hey Mom! campaign

The Healing Group, a Salt Lake City-based women's wellness center, today announced the launch of its Hey Mom! campaign, designed to raise awareness, offer support and reduce the stigma commonly associated with postpartum depression (PPD) and related disorders.

15 Jun 2012

Fewer mothers, children dying globally, but progress varies greatly among countries, report says

"Deaths of mothers giving birth in developing countries have dropped by nearly half since 1990, while deaths of children under five have fallen from 12 million to 7.6 million, according to a new report released Wednesday by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)," the Los Angeles Times reports.

15 Jun 2012

Folic acid taken during first month of pregnancy reduces risk of autism in children

A new study by researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute suggests that women who consume the recommended daily dosage of folic acid, the synthetic form of folate or vitamin B-9, during the first month of pregnancy may have a reduced risk of having a child with autism.

15 Jun 2012

High doses of tiny milk vitamin produces numerous health benefits in mice

A novel form of vitamin B3 found in milk in small quantities produces remarkable health benefits in mice when high doses are administered, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland.

15 Jun 2012

Study strengthens link between HHV-6B and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy

A ten-year NIH-funded study has determined that a third of infants with prolonged seizures and fever suffer from either a new or reactivated roseola virus infection. Roseola viruses are the cause of the common childhood rash, but can also cause limbic encephalitis, a condition that frequently progresses to epilepsy. Investigators discovered one of the roseola viruses, human herpesvirus-6B (HHV-6B) in the blood of 32% of 169 infants with prolonged seizures, a condition known as status epilepticus.

15 Jun 2012