Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

VIVUS announces results of Qnexa clinical study on cardiometabolic disease

VIVUS, Inc. today announced that results from the SEQUEL study were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a peer-reviewed journal with broad, multidisciplinary readership.

9 Dec 2011

Roundup: Ohio lawmakers consider abortion bill; Aetna sues Mich. Blues

An Ohio lawmaker on Wednesday touted the importance of the fetal heartbeat as an indicator of life as he urged a legislative panel to support a bill that would impose the nation's most stringent abortion limit. The measure would outlaw abortions at the first detectable fetal heartbeat. That's sometimes as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

9 Dec 2011

Sebelius overturns FDA on morning after pill access

The Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this Wednesday has overturned the Food and Drug Administration's plan to remove the age limit on who can buy Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's Plan B One-Step pill – commonly known as the “morning after pill” without a prescription.

8 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 8, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the HHS decision on the Plan B morning after pill, as well as the latest progress reports from Capitol Hill on the payroll tax break extension and the doc fix.

8 Dec 2011

Influenza shot boosts immune response in pregnant women, protects neonatal babies

The researchers studied the immune response of 107 pregnant women after they were injected with a single dose of non-adjuvant H1N1 vaccine. They concluded that the influenza shot boosted the immune response in pregnant women and at the same time protected neuronatal babies via the antibodies that transferred through the placenta.

8 Dec 2011

Simple mindful eating, stress-reduction techniques help prevent weight gain in obese women

Many dread gaining weight during the holiday season, but there may be hope for those who find that stress causes them to reach for yet another helping of holiday goodies. In a study by UCSF researchers published online in the Journal of Obesity, mastering simple mindful eating and stress-reduction techniques helped prevent weight gain even without dieting.

8 Dec 2011

Watson introduces Amethia Lo and ethinyl estradiol tablets

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that under a settlement with Teva Women's Health, Watson has launched Amethia Lo (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol (0.1mg/0.02mg) and ethinyl estradiol (0.01mg)) tablets, the generic equivalent of Teva Women's Health, Inc.'s LoSEASONIQUE.

8 Dec 2011

CSL partners with NIH to study Cytomegalovirus, a common cause of abnormalities in newborns

CSL Limited announced today that it is partnering with the world’s largest health research agency, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study a potential new treatment for the prevention of congenital CMV infection, one of the most common known causes of congenital (i.e., present at birth) abnormalities in the developed world.

7 Dec 2011

Merck, PATH form partnership to fight causes of maternal mortality

Pharmaceutical company Merck (MSD) announced Monday it has "awarded a grant to PATH, a global health nonprofit, to identify game-changing technologies with the potential to save the lives of women during pregnancy and childbirth in low-resource settings," according to a Merck press release.

7 Dec 2011

Diabetes increases risk of emergency caesarean birth in women with poorly contracting uterus

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have found that the strength of uterine contractions in diabetic pregnant women is significantly weaker than in non-diabetic women, increasing the risk of emergency caesarean birth.

7 Dec 2011

Health Alliance, Bayer sign outcomes-based contract to support MS patients

Bayer HealthCare and Health Alliance Medical Plans have entered into an outcomes-based contract for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) who are taking Betaseron (interferon beta-1b) to reduce the frequency of clinical exacerbations.

7 Dec 2011

Women experience intimate partner violence, depression after childbirth

Forty percent of women who report depressive symptoms following birth also reported intimate partner violence finds a new study published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

7 Dec 2011

New alveoli continue to be formed as lungs grow

A ground-breaking international study into the ways lungs grow and develop has challenged existing medical understanding that our lungs are completely formed by the age of three.

7 Dec 2011

Roundup: Ariz. examines complaints of prisoners' medical health care; Calif. settles suit on kids' mental health services

To stave off a lawsuit, Arizona's Department of Corrections has agreed to investigate scores of complaints by inmates that they are routinely denied medical care for weeks or months even for severe, life-threatening conditions. Inmates who have lost sight, had body parts amputated or been severely disfigured, among other gruesome examples, say proper medical care could have prevented needless suffering.

6 Dec 2011

More mothers are breastfeeding their newborns, but for too short a duration

More mothers are breastfeeding their newborns, but for too short a duration to gain the maximum benefits of breastfeeding for both mothers and infants.

6 Dec 2011

Premature kids more likely to have behavioural/emotional problems

Children born just a few weeks too early are significantly more likely to have behavioural and/or emotional problems in the pre-school years, suggests research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

6 Dec 2011

Scientists identify a pattern that predicts which pregnant women likely to have complications

Poor mental health before pregnancy predicts which pregnant women are most likely to have a pregnancy complication and give birth to a low birth-weight baby, a new nationwide survey reveals.

6 Dec 2011

WSU study to improve diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are one of the most common causes of birth defects worldwide and are particularly prevalent in some South African communities where heavy drinking during pregnancy is a major public health issue, particularly in the wine-growing areas of the Western Cape.

6 Dec 2011

Prenatal exposure to valproate may increase risk of autism in children

Investigators in a population-based study in Denmark reporting today at the American Epilepsy Society's 65th annual meeting have found there is an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder and childhood autism in children born of mothers who are exposed to the anticonvulsant valproate during pregnancy.

6 Dec 2011

Two-thirds of women with catamenial epilepsy have diagnosis of partial epilepsy, study finds

In women of childbearing age with epilepsy, seizure exacerbation may occur either at the time of menstruation or ovulation. Investigators in a specialized epilepsy center have analyzed the data on a group of patients with seizures associated with their menstrual cycles (catamenial seizures) for type of epilepsy, seizure frequency, response to medication, neuroimaging findings, and seizures during pregnancy.

3 Dec 2011