Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Timing of antibody testing is critical for accurate COVID-19 detection

Scientists have analysed data from around the world to examine the accuracy of antibody tests for COVID-19, and have shown that the timing of testing is critical. The tests do not work accurately when administered at the wrong time.

26 Jun 2020

Researchers develop unique saliva-based test for COVID-19 detection

University of Saskatchewan researchers are part of two COVID-19-related projects awarded major federal funding today--one to develop a unique saliva-based test for COVID-19 detection and the other to track COVID-19 incidence rates among Canadian dentists.

25 Jun 2020

Global research community revises WHO COVID-19 research priorities

Researchers have described the results of a survey aiming to determine the current applicability of the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Research Roadmap and whether there are new priorities that should be focused on at this point in time during the pandemic.

25 Jun 2020

Study provides novel insights into how fat cells reduce lipid metabolism with age

Knowledge of how human fat tissue is affected by age has long been defined by numerous mouse-based studies.

25 Jun 2020

Zika virus during pregnancy can hamper vital collagen development in babies’ brains

Zika virus can hamper vital collagen development in the brains of babies whose mothers were infected with the disease while pregnant, new research reveals, as the search for a vaccine continues.

25 Jun 2020

New study comprehensively profiles environmental factors linked to childhood obesity

Childhood obesity is a health threat that is becoming more and more common worldwide. It increases risk later on for a variety of life-threatening challenges, including type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and even mental health problems.

25 Jun 2020

Study identifies world's first genetic and environmental risk factor for common childhood epilepsy

A new study of childhood epilepsy has identified the world's first environmental risk factor for the disease - maternal smoking in pregnancy, and discovered a new genetic association with the condition, pointing to potential new treatments for the disease.

24 Jun 2020

Air pollution, smoking and built environment may play a role in childhood obesity

How do environmental exposures during pregnancy and childhood influence the risk of obesity in children? The Barcelona Institute for Global Health, a center supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, and the University of Southern California led the first major study to investigate the associations between many pollutants and environmental factors --77 prenatal and 96 childhood exposures-- and the risk of childhood obesity.

24 Jun 2020

Study: Use of continuous combined oral contraceptives may reduce bone mass loss

Women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) become estrogen deficient at an early age, which makes them more vulnerable to the loss of bone mineral density.

24 Jun 2020

New study defines the transmission of COVID-19 from mother to child

UC Davis Health researchers took a critical step in defining the possible paths for the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing COVID-19 to get transmitted from the mother to her newborn baby. The mother to fetal transmission is known as "vertical" transmission.

24 Jun 2020

Researchers report a key breakthrough to help protect newborns from brain damage

Oxygen deprivation can be the worst start to a newborn's life, resulting in brain damage, epilepsy, developmental delays and death.

23 Jun 2020

Pangolin version of SARS-CoV-2 can cause COVID-19-like illness

The results of a recent multinational research endeavor, currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server, display the biological framework of SARS-CoV-2-related coronavirus in pangolins and reveal striking similarities to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in humans, but also show that it can be transmitted vertically to the fetus.

23 Jun 2020

Female reproductive organs not susceptible to direct SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers at the University in San Francisco, California, report that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is unlikely to negatively impact on pregnancy-related outcomes such as premature birth, transmission to babies via breast milk, and infertility.

23 Jun 2020

Woman's immune system behaves differently between first and later pregnancies

Among the holy quests of serious and mysterious medical challenges that doctors and research scientists strive to vanquish is preventing miscarriages, stillbirth and other pregnancy complications including preterm births.

23 Jun 2020

Mother's prenatal psychological distress is linked to infant gut microbes

Mother's chronic prenatal psychological distress and elevated hair cortisol concentrations are associated with gut microbiota composition of the infant, according to a new publication from the FinnBrain research project of the University of Turku, Finland.

23 Jun 2020