Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

Home births and hospital births equally safe, says large international study

A large study has confirmed what many midwives and mothers instinctively knew – it’s really not safer giving birth in a hospital than at home if you had a low-risk pregnancy so far. This is bound to reassure the growing number of low-risk pregnant women living in countries with reasonably good access to healthcare who want to deliver their babies at home.

8 Aug 2019

Expectant parents' emotional struggles linked to behavioral problems in 2-year-olds

Expectant parents' emotional struggles predict emotional and behavioral problems in 2-year-olds, new research shows. The same study reveals, for the first time, that couple conflict helps explain emotional problems in very young children.

5 Aug 2019

iTHRIV and community groups partner to address health needs across Virginia

Four biomedical research projects to improve the health of Virginians will be funded by the integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV), a Clinical Translational Science Award Hub.

5 Aug 2019

Study shows how 'natural-killer' cells may help women avoid placental accreta

One of the most dangerous risks expectant mothers face as their delivery date approaches is a surprisingly common condition with a little-known name: placental accreta.

5 Aug 2019

New leukemia treatment developed from common wild flower

Researchers have discovered how to turn a compound from a common wildflower called Feverfew into a new treatment for leukemia.

1 Aug 2019

Maternal behavior in mice linked to oxytocin-sensitive cells in the female brain

A startling new study shows that cells that are exquisitely sensitive to oxytocin are found in a tiny region in the brains of female but not male mice. This could be of great importance in explaining maternal behavior in females and eventually in treating social disorders like postpartum depression and autism spectrum disorder.

25 Jul 2019

'Dual burden' of prematurity and serious maternal complications occurs in one of 270 births

A quarter of women who have serious maternal complications during childbirth also have premature births, posing a "dual burden" on families, finds research from NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, the University of California, San Francisco California Preterm Birth Initiative, and Stanford University.

17 Jul 2019

Perinatal depression screenings may overlook women having suicidal ideation

A new study of 736 low-income pregnant women in Illinois found that more than one-third of those who reported thoughts of self-harm did not have elevated levels of depression, according to a commonly used health questionnaire.

16 Jul 2019

Transobturator sling surgery shows promise for stress urinary incontinence

A recent study from the Mayo Clinic researchers has shown that surgery for management of stress urinary incontinence can yield better results than conservative methods such as exercise and urethral inserts.

16 Jul 2019

Diet and physical exercise do not reduce risk of gestational diabetes

The assumption that minimizing weight gain in obese pregnant women is advantageous for avoiding gestational diabetes has not been borne out.

11 Jul 2019

Exercise during pregnancy can promote bone health of both mother and child

Vitamin D is important to enable calcium to be absorbed into the intestine. During pregnancy, vitamin D is especially significant because extra calcium is needed to build the baby's skeleton.

9 Jul 2019

Opioids are major cause of pregnancy-related deaths in Utah

Stephanie lay in the Salt Lake County jail bunk bed and thought, "Everything would be better if I just died."

28 Jun 2019

Low maternal education linked to high risk of infant mortality

Infants of women with a short-term education are more likely to die within the first year of life. In more than half of cases, the cause of death is premature childbirth and low fetal weight. This is shown by research from Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital.

27 Jun 2019

Pregnant women with migraine more often have complications during pregnancy and childbirth

Despite the fact that many women who suffer migraines find that the number and severity of these severe headaches decrease during pregnancy, migraines are now being linked to elevated blood pressure, abortions, caesareans, preterm births and babies with low birth weight.

26 Jun 2019

Good health goes beyond having a doctor and insurance, says AMA’s equity chief

Part of Dr. Aletha Maybank's medical training left a sour taste in her mouth.

19 Jun 2019

Mother’s physical and emotional health during pregnancy has an effect on baby’s health

Athletes invest hours practicing before a big game. Runners train for months leading up to a marathon. A mother-to-be should likewise prepare herself for the mental and physical rigor of pregnancy, labor and caring for a newborn.

6 Jun 2019

Queen’s researchers develop innovative rapid test to improve maternal health in developing countries

A grant from the McClay Foundation will enable Queen's researchers to work with clinicians to offer fast diagnostic testing to prevent meningitis and sepsis in maternity wards for the first time in Malawi.

31 May 2019

Supreme Court declines to hear military medical malpractice case

The family of a young Navy nurse who died after military doctors allegedly failed to halt massive bleeding following childbirth won't get a hearing in the nation's highest court.

21 May 2019

Study: India has large disparities in under-five mortality rate between richer and poorer states

India in 2015 had more deaths among children under five than any other country and had large disparities in the under-five mortality rate between richer and poorer states, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

14 May 2019

Prophylactic antibiotics could halve infection rates after childbirth

Thousands of women could have been spared pain and infection if they were given prophylactic antibiotics following assisted childbirth, advise researchers.

14 May 2019