Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

PLoS ONE journal publishes UVM team's study, Positivity of the English Language

"If it bleeds, it leads," goes the cynical saying with television and newspaper editors. In other words, most news is bad news and the worst news gets the big story on the front page. So one might expect the New York Times to contain, on average, more negative and unhappy types of words - like "war," " funeral," "cancer," "murder" - than positive, happy ones - like "love," "peace" and "hero."

13 Jan 2012

Smoking during pregnancy does not cause ASD in children

A large population-based study in Sweden indicates that there is no link between smoking during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children.

13 Jan 2012

MainStreet names PAF as second-highest rated national charity in America

The Virginia-based Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) announced today that a new analysis from personal finance news website MainStreet, also reported on MSN Money, has named PAF as the second-highest rated national charity in America.

13 Jan 2012

Clinical trial to compare Aria's prenatal test and standard first-trimester screening for T21

Aria Diagnostics, a molecular diagnostics company, announced that it is initiating a blinded, multicenter clinical trial that compares its non-invasive prenatal test with the standard first-trimester screening test (serum screening and nuchal translucency ultrasound alone and in combination) to detect Trisomy 21, which is associated with Down syndrome.

13 Jan 2012

Reaching WHO PMTCT goal in Zimbabwe

Researchers in this PLoS Medicine article examine the efforts necessary to reach the WHO goal of reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT) risk to less than five percent in Zimbabwe.

12 Jan 2012

uVera Diagnostics introduces CR3 Keyless Split Sample Cup for drug screening

uVera Diagnostics has introduced the CR3 Keyless Split Sample Cup to its inventory. The new drug screening specimen cup provides several state-of-the-art features not available together in any other product on the market.

11 Jan 2012

Study examines impact of maternal obesity on inflammatory responses

A number of different immunological mechanisms ensure the successful establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Imbalance in these mechanisms is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes.

11 Jan 2012

END7 campaign aims to combat seven major NTDs by 2020

Launched today, the END7 campaign is dedicated to eliminating seven major neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as a public health threat to poor communities by the end of 2020.

10 Jan 2012

Aria's non-invasive test more effective in detecting Trisomy 18 & 21

Aria Diagnostics, a molecular diagnostics company, today announced publication of data supporting a directed, non-invasive approach to cell-free DNA (cfDNA) analysis in maternal blood for evaluation of two common fetal trisomies linked to genetic disorders.

10 Jan 2012

Young female cancer survivors concerned about their future fertility

Young female cancer survivors are concerned about their future fertility and parenthood options and want better information and guidance early on, according to a new study by Jessica Gorman and her team from the University of California in the US.

10 Jan 2012

TCM therapy makes fertility treatments far more effective: Study

Traditional Chinese medicine has long been used to ease pain, treat disease, boost fertility, and prevent miscarriage. Known in the Western medical community by its acronym TCM, these traditional remedies include herbal preparations and acupuncture. Now Tel Aviv University researchers have discovered that a combination of TCM therapy and intrauterine insemination (IUI) is a winning solution for hopeful mommies who are having trouble conceiving.

10 Jan 2012

Austin Recovery, Emmy Award-winning 'Intervention' program team up to save an addict's life

Austin Recovery, the largest and most affordable not-for-profit drug and alcohol treatment center in Texas, has once again teamed up with the Emmy Award-winning "Intervention" program to save an addict's life.

7 Jan 2012

Poor nutrition in the womb can increase risk of type 2 diabetes in later life

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council have shown one way in which poor nutrition in the womb can put a person at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other age-related diseases in later life.

7 Jan 2012

GSN completes $20M financing round

Gene Security Network Inc. (GSN) today announced the completion of a $20 million financing round, as well as the change of the company's name to Natera, Inc. The financing round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, which is joined in the current round by Claremont Creek Ventures and Sequoia Capital.

7 Jan 2012

Twins born five years apart thanks to advanced reproductive technology

Floren Blake is a miracle baby for her parents. At just under two months of age she also has a “twin” five-year-old brother Reuben. Even the clinicians who delivered the baby girl in November last year were ecstatic said her 38-year-old mother, Jody Blake, as the family shared the excitement brought about by advances infertility treatment over the past 20 years.

5 Jan 2012

Twin births on the rise in the U.S.

Over the last three decades there has been a rise in the number of twins born in the U.S. Mostly this is the result of test-tube babies and women waiting to have children until their 30s, when the chances of twins increase. In 2009, 1 in every 30 babies born in the U.S. was a twin, an astounding increase over the 1 in 53 rate in 1980, according to a government report issued Wednesday.

5 Jan 2012

Postpartum Support International unveils new Spanish language educational DVD

Postpartum Support International Unveils New Spanish Language Educational DVD "MADRE SALUDABLE, FAMILIA FELIZ" Offered to Hospitals & Healthcare Agencies Nationwide As Part of Clinical Training & Education Program Helping Alleviate the #1 Complication of Child Birth: Untreated Depression

5 Jan 2012

Study refutes perinatal programming theory about adipose tissue growth

Is obesity in infants "programmed" in the womb? Previously, researchers assumed that consumption of "bad" fats during pregnancy contribute to excessive infant adipose tissue growth and that "good" omega-3 fatty acids prevent expansive adipose tissue development. A study run by the Technische Universit-t M-nchen showed no evidence to support this "perinatal programming" theory.

5 Jan 2012

Children with biliary atresia better tolerate maternal liver grafts

Children with a rare, life-threatening disease that is the most common cause of neonatal liver failure - biliary atresia - better tolerate liver transplants from their mothers than from their fathers, according to a UCSF-led study.

4 Jan 2012

Cardiff University technique could help predict IVF embryos with best success chances

A new technique successfully used in mice to identify embryos likely to result in a successful pregnancy could be used in humans, potentially boosting IVF success rates and helping to reduce the number of multiple births, according to Cardiff University scientists.

4 Jan 2012