Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Women who wear veils risk vitamin D deficiency

A study by Australian scientists has found that women who wear veils for religious or cultural reasons may not be getting enough vitamin D.

20 Apr 2009

Canadian study finds immigrant women may be at greater risk of having a baby with a birth defect

Immigrant women are less likely to use folic acid supplements before pregnancy to prevent spina bifida, particularly those who recently immigrated to the country, according to a new study led by a St. Michael's Hospital physician in collaboration with Statistics Canada, Health Canada and the University of Toronto.

16 Apr 2009

An African child dies every 30 seconds from Malaria

An African child dies every 30 seconds from this same disease; nearly a half billion people become ill because of it. About 1 million children under the age of 5 die each year from malaria -- a disease that is entirely preventable.

16 Apr 2009

Evidence grows that maternal immune response to fetal brain during pregnancy a key factor in some autism

New studies in pregnant mice using antibodies against fetal brains made by the mothers of autistic children show that immune cells can cross the placenta and trigger neurobehavioral changes similar to autism in the mouse pups.

16 Apr 2009

Researchers examine link between Tourette syndrome and ADHD

The most disabling aspect of Tourette syndrome is that in 90% of cases, it exists in conjunction with another disorder.

15 Apr 2009

Prenatal exposure to influenza virus shown to reduce intelligence in adulthood

The Hong Kong flu pandemic was responsible for more than 700,000 deaths worldwide in the late 1960s, with major disease outbreaks in Europe in the winter of 1969-1970.

15 Apr 2009

Mehamphetamine use during pregnancy causes abnormal brain development in children

A first of its kind study examining the effects of methamphetamine use during pregnancy has found the drug appears to cause abnormal brain development in children.

15 Apr 2009

Valproate exposure during pregnancy can impair a child's cognitive development

Three-year-olds whose mothers took the antiepileptic drug valproate during pregnancy had average IQs six to nine points lower than children exposed to three other antiepileptic drugs, a landmark multi-center study has found.

15 Apr 2009

Stressed pregnant women more likely to have asthmatic children

Pregnant women who are stressed, particularly late in pregnancy, have an increased risk of their child going on to develop asthma, according to the latest research from Children of the 90s.

15 Apr 2009

Healthy baby born 22 years after father's sperm was frozen

Twenty two years after his sperm was frozen because he had leukaemia, a man has fathered a healthy baby girl.

15 Apr 2009

Maternal positions and mobility during first stage of labor

Women who walk, sit, kneel or otherwise avoid lying in bed during early labor can shorten the first stage of labor by about an hour, according to a new Cochrane evidence review.

14 Apr 2009

You are what your mother did not eat during pregnancy

The new science of epigenetics explains how genes can be modified by the environment, and a prime result of epigenetic inquiry has just been published online in The FASEB Journal: You are what your mother did not eat during pregnancy.

13 Apr 2009

Gene targeting discovery opens door for vaccines and drugs

In a genetic leap that could help fast track vaccine and drug development to prevent or tame serious global diseases, DMS researchers have discovered how to destroy a key DNA pathway in a wily and widespread human parasite.

13 Apr 2009

Vitamin E during pregnancy puts babies at risk of heart defects

New research by scientists in the Netherlands has found that vitamin E supplements taken during pregnancy can increase the risk of heart defects in babies.

13 Apr 2009

Small RNAs can play critical roles in male infertility/contraception

University of Nevada School of Medicine scientists in the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology have discovered insight into the reproductive workings of the male sex chromosome that may have significant implications for male infertility and contraception.

12 Apr 2009

The invisible woman: Availability and culpability in reproductive health jurisprudence

Women's health is increasingly undervalued in conflicts over reproductive rights, including clashes based on moral objections under so-called conscience clauses, a new study by a University of Illinois legal expert found.

12 Apr 2009

Youth as young as 12 engaging in risky sexual activity

Middle school youth are engaging in sexual intercourse as early as age 12, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health.

9 Apr 2009

FDA approves label change for non-invasive fibroid treatment

InSightec Ltd. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a label change for the company's ExAblate 2000 MR-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) system for the treatment of women with non-hysteroscopically resectable uterine fibroids.

8 Apr 2009

Frogs reveal clues about the effects of alcohol during development

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) cause malformations in babies, including facial defects, short stature, and mental and behavioral abnormalities.

6 Apr 2009

2,516 potential biomarkers of pancreatic cancer

A cancer scientist from Johns Hopkins has convinced an international group of colleagues to delay their race to find new cancer biomarkers and instead begin a 7,000-hour slog through a compendium of 50,000 scientific articles already published to assemble, decode and analyze the molecules that might herald the furtive presence of pancreatic cancer.

6 Apr 2009