Childbirth News and Research

Latest Childbirth News and Research

Perinatal anxiety - the hidden disorder

You've probably heard of postpartum depression - a common problem after pregnancy, suffered by about one in seven new mothers.

25 Feb 2009

Increasing number of women suffer from post-birth bleeding

Post-partum haemorrhage (PPH) immediately after giving birth is the largest threat to new mothers in high-income countries.

25 Feb 2009

Genital piercings can cause serious health complications

While men can rely on that little, blue pill to improve things in the bedroom, women are turning to more extreme measures to enhance sexual intercourse.

25 Feb 2009

Women with diabetes before or during pregnancy at greater risk of depression

Low-income pregnant women and new mothers with diabetes have nearly twice the risk of experiencing depression during and after pregnancy than women without diabetes, according to a study in the February 25 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

24 Feb 2009

Anthropologist's studies of childbirth bring new focus on women in evolution

Contrary to the TV sitcom where the wife experiencing strong labor pains screams at her husband to stay away from her, women rarely give birth alone.

18 Feb 2009

Postnatal psychosis more common in older first-time mothers

Women who give birth for the first time after the age of 35 run a greater risk than younger first-time mothers of suffering a psychosis in the months after delivery.

10 Feb 2009

First-time mothers at a greater risk of psychosis in the month following childbirth

A study of risk factors associated with psychotic illness after childbirth, published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine, shows that first-time mothers are at the greatest risk of developing psychosis in the month following the birth of their child - even if they have never been treated in hospital for mental illness in the past.

10 Feb 2009

Older first time mothers more prone to develop mental illness

Swedish researchers have revealed that women who have their first baby after age 35 are more likely to develop a mental illness after the birth.

10 Feb 2009

FDA approves orphan drug ATryn anticoagulant

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued its first approval for a biological product produced by genetically engineered (GE) animals.

8 Feb 2009

Simple surgical checklist during major operations lowers deaths and complications

A collection of hospitals in eight cities around the globe has successfully demonstrated that the use of a simple surgical checklist during major operations can lower the incidence of deaths and complications by more than one third.

15 Jan 2009

Epidurals and spinal anesthetics safer than previously reported

The largest ever prospective study [1,2] into the major complications [3] of epidurals and spinal anaesthetics published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia today (Monday 12 January 2009) concludes that previous studies have over-estimated the risks of severe complications of these procedures.

12 Jan 2009

More can be done to prevent lung disease in Southeast-Asian babies

A simple, effective and low-cost method of preventing lung disease - and therefore death - in newborn children is not being practiced widely enough in South-East Asian hospitals, according to a major international study involving the University of Adelaide, Australia.

17 Dec 2008

Roche's new dual-target HIV-1 test approved in Europe

Roche announced today that its innovative dual-target HIV-1 test has received CE Mark certification, allowing it to be sold for clinical use in the European Union. The COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan HIV-1 Test, v2.0 utilizes a unique design to simultaneously amplify and detect two separate regions of the HIV-1 genome.

15 Dec 2008

Comparable data on maternal and infant in Europe available for the first time

Promoting healthy pregnancy and safe childbirth is a goal of all European health care systems.

12 Dec 2008

Postpartum depression can lead to poor sleep quality

A study published in the current issue of the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing shows that depression symptoms worsen in PPD patients when their quality of sleep declines.

10 Dec 2008

Women waiting longer to start a family

The latest report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Australia's Mothers and Babies 2006 - says that women are waiting longer to start a family.

9 Dec 2008

Recombinant human antithrombin drug decreases risk to pregnancy and surgery patients with hereditary antithrombin deficiency

Pregnancy and surgery patients with a serious blood disorder that causes excessive clotting have responded well to treatment with a man-made anti-clotting protein.

8 Dec 2008

Sage tests high-tech solution for nursing shortage

One of the reasons for the shortage of nurses that continues to plague the heath care industry is too few clinical spaces where students can practice nursing care, but that's about to change with the increased use of high-tech mannequins that simulate real patient conditions including childbirth, trauma and many other real-world nursing situations.

5 Dec 2008

Escalating inequality in cardiovascular health status between rich and poor

A new paper released by The George Institute for International Health is warning a cardiovascular disease based epidemic is gaining pace among many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), exemplified at its worst in the world's largest populated countries – China and India.

3 Dec 2008

Women more likely than men to be hospitalized for chest pain

Women are more likely than men to be hospitalized for chest pain for which doctors cannot find a cause, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

24 Nov 2008