Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

Inhaled pain relief effective in first labor stage

A Cochrane review shows that inhaled pain relief is more effective than no pain relief at all in reducing pain intensity during the first stage of labor, say researchers.

19 Sep 2012

Many women undertreat pelvic floor disorders and suffer in silence

New research issued by the PFD Alliance finds that 90 percent of Americans underestimate or are unsure about the prevalence of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) which will impact one in three women at some point during their lives. This means many women undertreat PFDs and suffer in silence.

19 Sep 2012

Tranexamic acid: an interview with Prof Ian Roberts

Tranexamic acid is a medicine that reduces blood clot breakdown. In this way it helps in patients with bleeding.

19 Sep 2012

‘Rooming in’ benefits both mother and baby: New review

"Rooming in," keeping mother and her newborn in the same room 24/7 to encourage breastfeeding has been a popular initiative of The WHO/UNICEF Baby Friendly Hospital. A new review from The Cochrane Library finds some evidence that it does support breastfeeding, at least in the short term.

15 Sep 2012

U-M develops new guidelines for family physicians to evaluate urinary leakage in women

Millions of women experience a loss of bladder control, or urinary incontinence, in their lifetime. It's a common and often embarrassing problem that many patients don't bring up with their doctors - and when they do, it may be mentioned as a casual side note during a visit for more pressing medical issues.

14 Sep 2012

Comic created to help busy medical staff on the benefits of tranexamic acid

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine have created a comic influenced by the Japanese manga style to help busy medical staff who treat patients suffering from bleeding.

12 Sep 2012

Inhaled analgesia appears to be effective in reducing pain intensity in first stage of labour

Inhaled pain relief appears to be effective in reducing pain intensity and in giving pain relief in the first stage of labour, say Cochrane researchers.

12 Sep 2012

Blog examines importance of community involvement in health behavior interventions

Discussing how in some "parts of Africa young girls are allowed to spend days in labor to deliver a baby," increasing their risk of injury and death, Gary Darmstadt, head of the Family Health Division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Wendy Prosser, a research analyst with the division, ask in a post in the foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, "[W]hat happens when culture and accepted behaviors are actually harmful; when science and culture collide?"

7 Sep 2012

Study reveals higher maternal death rates following abortion in Denmark

A new study of the medical records for nearly half a million women in Denmark reveals significantly higher maternal death rates following abortion compared to delivery. This finding has confirmed similar population studies conducted in Finland and the United States, but contradicts the widely held belief that abortion is safer than childbirth.

6 Sep 2012

Converting blood cells to a stem cell state: an interview with Elias Zambidis, M.D., Ph.D.

The primitive stem cell state we created is called an “induced pluripotent stem cell” (iPSC). iPSC are a new, unique, and artificially-created type of stem cell that were first described in 2006 by a Japanese scientist named Shinya Yamanaka.

4 Sep 2012

Blog examines study looking at role of stigma in HIV PMTCT

The Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog examines a recent study that found only slightly more than 44 percent of women in the Nyanza province of Kenya deliver their infants in a health care facility, with many women citing fear of stigma and discrimination as a reason for not attending clinics for prenatal care.

31 Aug 2012

Blog examines 3 maternal health programs in sub-Saharan Africa

"In developing countries where access to health care during pregnancy can be scarce or grossly underused due to lack of education, financial costs, and proximity to health centers, women die unnecessarily from pregnancy and birth complications," Jennifer James, founder of Mom Bloggers for Social Good, writes in this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog.

31 Aug 2012

Fertile women with obesity more likely to develop atrial fibrillation

Obesity triggers atrial fibrillation in fertile women, according to research presented today at the ESC Congress 2012 by Dr Deniz Karasoy from Denmark.

26 Aug 2012

Menopause prevents competition between a mother and her new daughter-in-law

The menopause evolved, in part, to prevent competition between a mother and her new daughter-in-law, according to research published today in the journal Ecology Letters.

23 Aug 2012

HIV-related stigma keeps Kenyan pregnant women from having babies in health-care facilities

The fear of being labeled HIV-positive is strong enough to keep mothers in one Kenyan province from having babies in health-care facilities, according to a study published online today in the journal PLOS Medicine. Communities there have come to see clinics and skilled care as mostly for HIV-positive women.

22 Aug 2012

Chemotherapy during pregnancy: an interview with Professor Sibylle Loibl

The incidence is about 1-3% of all breast cancers. The incidence seems to be increasing due to women delaying their childbearing to when they are in their thirties.

22 Aug 2012

Study finds 'inconclusive' evidence to support use of WHO-backed drug to prevent hemorrhage during labor

"The World Health Organization [WHO] should review its approval of a drug used to prevent life-threatening bleeding in women in childbirth because there is not enough evidence that it is effective," according to a study published Monday in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Reuters reports.

22 Aug 2012

State roundup: Fla. groups ask Gov. for essential benefits hearings

In a reversal of a law passed 4 years ago, physicians in Massachusetts will now be allowed to accept "modest" meals and refreshments provided by pharmaceutical or medical device companies.

13 Aug 2012

Maternal obesity and neonatal death: an interview with Dr. Jenny Cresswell

It is important to say that levels of maternal obesity in sub-Saharan Africa are low by global standards, but obesity is projected to increase over the next two decades.

13 Aug 2012

Newborn death risk increases with maternal obesity in sub-Saharan Africa

New research published Online First in The Lancet indicates that babies born to mothers who are overweight or obese in sub-Saharan Africa, where rates of obesity are projected to increase at an alarming rate during the next two decades, are significantly more likely to die in the first two days after their birth. The study is the first to shed light on the role of maternal obesity in neonatal death (during the first 28 days of life) in developing countries.

9 Aug 2012