Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Catholic bishops call birth control compromise 'simply unworkable'

A wealthy backer of GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum apologizes for aspirin-as-birth control "joke," a day after female lawmakers stage walkout from a GOP-led committee hearing after no women were allowed to testify for the contraception mandate.

18 Feb 2012

Corcept receives FDA approval for Korlym to treat endogenous Cushing's syndrome

Today, Korlym (mifepristone) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to control high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) in adults with endogenous Cushing's syndrome.

18 Feb 2012

First Edition: February 17, 2012

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations include reports about the latest debate on the Obama administration's regulation to mandate free birth control for women.

17 Feb 2012

Female dog owners more physically active during pregnancy

Collaborative research from the WALTHAM- Centre for Pet Nutrition and the University of Liverpool has shown that pregnant women who own dogs are more physically active than those who don't.

17 Feb 2012

Epilepsy community concerned over AHRQ's AED drug comparison study

Leading representatives of the American Epilepsy Society, American Academy of Neurology, and the Epilepsy Foundation today reported they have grave concerns about the implications and potential misuse of the anticonvulsant (AED) drug comparisons study recently released by the U.S. Agency for Health Research and Quality.

17 Feb 2012

Exposure to common flame retardant may affect fertility and long-term memory

Mice genetically engineered to be susceptible to autism-like behaviors that were exposed to a common flame retardant were less fertile and their offspring were smaller, less sociable and demonstrated marked deficits in learning and long-term memory when compared with the offspring of normal unexposed mice, a study by researchers at UC Davis has found.

16 Feb 2012

New devices could hold key to predicting premature births

Scientists and doctors in Sheffield are developing two novel devices that they say could lead to the improved prediction of premature births.

16 Feb 2012

More than half of women with SLE and RA have fewer children than desired

New research shows that more than half of women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have fewer children than desired. While patient choice has some influence on the smaller family size, findings published today in Arthritis Care & Research, a journal of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), suggest that higher rates of infertility and miscarriage may also impact the number of offspring born to women with these chronic conditions.

16 Feb 2012

Study finds low rate of contraception among sexually active young Latinos

Half of the young adult Latino men and women responding to a survey in rural Oregon acknowledge not using regular effective contraception - despite expressing a desire to avoid pregnancy, according to a new Oregon State University study.

16 Feb 2012

Baby Jaya receives a pacemaker 15 mins after birth

Little Jaya lived up to her name which in Hindi means victorious. Jaya Maharaj became one of the smallest recipients of a pacemaker when she was just 15 minutes old.

15 Feb 2012

Pregnant mothers who are vitamin D deficient raise risk of language difficulties in kids: Study

The Telethon Institute for Child Health Research study is the first to show low levels of the vitamin in utero can harm a child's language development, including the ability to pick up new words and string together sentences.

15 Feb 2012

FDA approves preservative-free drug for glaucoma

The U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has approved tafluprost ophthalmic solution (Zioptan, Merck) 0.0015%, the first preservative-free prostaglandin analog ophthalmic solution for glaucoma.

15 Feb 2012

Surgeons fix plumbing in the heart of newborn 5 days old

Keyota Cole was born with a bad heart. The 33-year-old from of Bakersfield, Calif., suffers from a congenital heart disease called Ebstein's malformation of the tricuspid valve, and from abnormal pulmonary veins. She has undergone multiple surgeries over her lifetime, including one to repair a hole in her heart, a valve replacement and the implantation of a pacemaker.

15 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: Obama's budget, birth control choices; Planning hospital readmissions to save

In poll after poll, the public has made clear that it prefers the president's approach of rebuilding the economy now and tackling the deficit when the fundamentals are stronger. While Republicans have counted on voters blaming Mr. Obama for the hard times, some are beginning to worry that they will be blamed for their obstructionism.

15 Feb 2012

AMCHP honors LSUHSC's professor for excellence in maternal and child health care

Rebekah E. Gee MD MPH FACOG, Assistant Professor, LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans' Schools of Public Health and Medicine, has been chosen to receive a Recognition of Distinction for Excellence in State Maternal Child Health Leadership Award from the Association of Maternal & Child Health (MCH) Programs.

15 Feb 2012

Scientists identify and describe molecular mechanism behind holoprosencephaly

Researchers of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have now identified and described a molecular mechanism underlying the most common malformation of the brain in humans. In holoprosencephaly (HPE), the forebrain (prosencephalon) is only incompletely formed.

14 Feb 2012

Unstructured free play, recess need to be reinstated in schools

Evaluating the Let's Move! Initiative, Dr. Melinda Sothern, Professor of Public Health and Jim Finks Chair of Health Promotion at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, calls First Lady Michelle Obama brave for taking on the challenge of childhood obesity and suggests that she now consider working to move it up to the policy level.

14 Feb 2012

Machine-learning methods show that patients with severe brain injury could communicate accurately

Only by employing complex machine-learning techniques to decipher repeated advanced brain scans were researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell able to provide evidence that a patient with a severe brain injury could, in her way, communicate accurately.

14 Feb 2012

Radiation induces testicular cancer in male fetuses

Male fetuses of mothers that are exposed to radiation during early pregnancy may have an increased chance of developing testicular cancer, according to a study in mice at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

14 Feb 2012

Two novel devices can predict women at risk of premature birth

Scientists and doctors from the University of Sheffield are developing two novel devices that could lead to the improved prediction of premature births.

14 Feb 2012