Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Study finds inadequate testing for Tennessee infants exposed to hepatitis C

Most Tennessee infants exposed to hepatitis C at birth are not later tested to see if they acquired the virus, according to a study by researchers at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt and the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy.

14 Feb 2020

MCG physicians help rural hospitals better treat patients by establishing tele-EDs

Emergency medicine physicians at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University are helping rural hospitals better treat patients by establishing tele-emergency departments.

14 Feb 2020

Text messaging helps improve access to prenatal health information, study finds

Pregnant urban African American and immigrant Afro-Caribbean women are more likely to receive the prenatal health information they need if they are given access to mhealth apps like Text4baby.

14 Feb 2020

OB-GYNs recommend low-dose aspirin for all patients to prevent preeclampsia

Lowering the risk of developing a life-threatening condition while pregnant is as simple as taking low-dose aspirin every day, according to OB-GYNs at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

13 Feb 2020

Discovery of compound that reverses the fertility clock

The reproductive years of a woman are at their peak before the age of 30. Beyond that, fertility starts to decline, and by the age of 40, fertility potential is about half the level it was before 30 years old. Many women experience fertility issues, but now a new study on mice may help reverse the clock on eggs, offering new fertility hope to older women.

13 Feb 2020

Improving ability to predict autism risk with few drops of blood

Within days of birth, a few drops of blood are collected from every newborn in California--and across the United States -- which are then stored on filter paper and screened for dozens of genetic and congenital disorders, such as phenylketonuria, an inherited metabolic disorder that can result in intellectual disability, seizures, heart and behavioral problems.

13 Feb 2020

Digital solution for a smart pregnancy

Wouldn't it be handy if you were able to record your baby's heartbeat or even take an ultrasound scan just using a smartphone app at home, without having to make an appointment to visit your obstetrician or go to the hospital, with all the additional travel and waiting time that entails? Technology is currently being developed which ought to make this possible in the near future.

13 Feb 2020

Acid reflux drug may be a promising therapy to reduce preterm birth

Lansoprazole, an over-the-counter acid reflux drug that is often taken by pregnant women, may be a promising therapy to reduce preterm birth, according to a computational drug repurposing study that also tested several of the drugs in mice.

13 Feb 2020

Maternal use of cosmetics containing parabens tied to child's future overweight

Parabens are used as preservatives in cosmetics. If pregnant women use cosmetics containing parabens that remain on the skin for protracted periods, this may have consequences for their child's subsequent weight development.

13 Feb 2020

Study finds no evidence of intrauterine vertical transmission of COVID-19 infection

There is currently no evidence that the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) causes severe adverse outcomes in neonates or that it can pass to the child while in the womb, according to a small observational study of women from Wuhan, China, who were in the third trimester of pregnancy and had pneumonia caused by COVID-19.

12 Feb 2020

UQ researchers reverse reproductive aging process in mice

Researchers have lifted fertility rates in older female mice with small doses of a metabolic compound that reverses the aging process in eggs, offering hope for some women struggling to conceive.

12 Feb 2020

Telemedicine can help pregnant women struggling with opioids

Sarah, a military veteran living on the coast of South Carolina, knew she had a problem. The opioids prescribed for her pain were becoming a headache of their own.

11 Feb 2020

Telehealth interventions could lead to improved obstetric outcomes

Telehealth interventions are associated with improved obstetric outcomes, according to a review published from physician-researchers at the George Washington University.

11 Feb 2020

Study explores how some mammals postpone development of their embryos

How do some mammals postpone the development of their embryos to await better conditions for having offspring? A recent study at the UW Medicine Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine explored this reproductive enigma, which can occur in more than 130 species of mammals as well as in some marsupials.

10 Feb 2020

Study to evaluate safety of PrEP and dapivirine ring in pregnant women

A woman who is eight-months pregnant is the first participant to be enrolled into a study evaluating the safety and acceptability of two different HIV prevention approaches when used during pregnancy -- the monthly dapivirine vaginal ring, which is currently under regulatory review, and a daily antiretroviral (ARV) pill called Truvada, an approach already approved in several countries and commonly referred to as PrEP, short for pre-exposure prophylaxis.

10 Feb 2020

Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy can influence the development of ADHD

According to a study conducted in Finland, the risk of ADHD was 34 percent higher in children whose mother had a vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy than in those children whose mother’s vitamin D level was sufficient during the first and second trimesters.

10 Feb 2020

New clinical trial to examine the safety of dapivirine vaginal ring and PrEP in pregnant women

The first clinical trial specifically designed to test the safety of the monthly dapivirine vaginal ring in pregnant women has begun in southern and eastern Africa.

10 Feb 2020

Higher maternal blood pressure linked to placental gene modifications

Higher maternal blood pressure in pregnancy is associated with chemical modifications to placental genes, according to a study by researchers from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health.

10 Feb 2020

Quick reference points on egg freezing for age-related fertility

Egg freezing for age-related fertility is becoming more common, and a short article in CMAJ provides quick reference points on the topic for primary care providers.

10 Feb 2020

Growing eggs and sperm to treat infertility

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, have reported, in the journal Cell Reports, the mechanism of how the very early precursor or stem cells which eventually give rise to the germ cells, eggs and sperm, are formed over the course of development. This could help create eggs and sperms under laboratory conditions to help infertile people who don’t have sperms, or eggs, for instance.

9 Feb 2020