Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

AARDA announces new partnership with AutoimmuneMom

The American Autoimmune Related Disease Association (AARDA) is thrilled to announce our new partnership with AutoimmuneMom.

30 Jan 2020

Maternal consumption of low-calorie sweeteners alters metabolism, gut microbiota in offspring

Many people turn to artificial or so-called natural sweeteners to cut calories and lose weight. A new study led by Dr. Raylene Reimer, PhD, published in the high-impact journal Gut discovered that the consumption of low-calorie sweeteners while pregnant increased body fat in their offspring and disrupted their gut microbiota - the trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms that inhabit the intestinal tract and affect our health and risk of numerous diseases.

29 Jan 2020

KTU students design new belt to monitor the fetus during pregnancy

A team of students from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) BeltaMom has designed a belt for pregnant women that monitors the condition of the fetus from the 2nd trimester.

28 Jan 2020

Low-protein diet throughout pregnancy and lactation may increase risk of liver damage

A study in rats examines a pathway through which protein deficiency during pregnancy leads to fat accumulation in the liver and increased risk of liver damage.

28 Jan 2020

Conceived through ‘fertility fraud,’ she now needs fertility treatment

When Heather Woock was in her late 20s, she started researching her family history. As part of the project, she spit into a tube and sent it to Ancestry, a consumer DNA testing service. Then, in 2017, she started getting messages about the results from people who said they could be half siblings.

28 Jan 2020

Vitamin D in pregnancy reduces risk of enamel defects in offspring

An important randomized trial shows that when vitamin D is supplemented at high doses in the last three months of pregnancy, there is a fall in the occurrence of enamel defects in the deciduous (milk) and permanent teeth of the offspring by half, over the next 6 years, compared to a low dose supplementation. However, the incidence of caries was not affected.

27 Jan 2020

Call for FDA to withdraw preterm birth drug divides doctors and insurers

Doctors fear that the only drug approved to prevent preterm birth, the nation’s leading cause of infant mortality and disability, will no longer be available to expectant mothers.

27 Jan 2020

Study: Benefits of fetal surgery to repair spina bifida continue through school age

The benefits of fetal surgery to repair spina bifida, a procedure pioneered at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in 1997, continue through school age, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study reports today in the journal Pediatrics.

24 Jan 2020

Routine Zika vaccination could help prevent suffering and save money

Global climate change has raised concerns that mosquito-borne diseases could become increasingly prevalent in the United States as warmer temperatures lead to increased mosquito activity.

23 Jan 2020

Fetal surgery for spina bifida makes a huge difference 10 years later

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics shows that children with spina bifida, a congenital spinal disorder, who had corrective surgery in the womb, show significantly more benefit than those whose operations were performed after birth, even a decade later. These children have more of a chance to walk by themselves and a lower risk of needing more surgeries, compared to those whose condition is corrected only after birth.

23 Jan 2020

New study to measure effects of environmental exposure on young women's breasts

A University of Massachusetts Amherst cancer epidemiologist has received a $462,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to expand her research into the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on the breast density of college-age women. High breast density is a strong risk factor for breast cancer.

23 Jan 2020

Portable optical biosensor slashes sepsis diagnosis time

Sepsis claims one life every four seconds. It is the primary cause of death in hospitals, and one of the ten leading causes of death worldwide.

23 Jan 2020

Having children and breastfeeding lowers risk of premature menopause

A new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open reports that early menopause is less likely to happen in women who have had one or more pregnancies that went beyond 6 months, and in women who nursed their babies. Exclusive breastfeeding was associated with the lowest risk.

22 Jan 2020

Cannabis use disorder more common in adults with pain

A new study published in the journal American Journal of Psychiatry reports that the use of cannabis for non-medical indications is much more common in adults who have pain than in others. This includes those who use marijuana very often or heavily enough to be considered to have a problem with dependence.

22 Jan 2020

Johns Hopkins researchers warn of new infectious diseases and death due to global warming

The Journal of Clinical Investigation recently published "Viewpoint" articles by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professors who warn that global climate change is likely to unlock dangerous new microbes, as well as threaten humans' ability to regulate body temperature.

From Johns Hopkins Medicine 22 Jan 2020

Children born to mothers with gestational diabetes and preeclampsia at risk for higher BMI

Childhood obesity is a growing problem in the United States. For children, obesity is defined as having a body mass index at or above the 95th percentile, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18.5% of children between the ages of 2 and 19 meet this criteria.

22 Jan 2020

Antenatal depression on the rise in low and middle-income countries, study shows

Women in low and medium-income countries struggle with many health issues in pregnancy and childbirth, but little attention is given to antenatal depression - which is on the rise in many developing countries, new PLOS ONE paper shows.

21 Jan 2020

Mothers who smoke, drink alcohol during pregnancy increase risk for SIDS 12-fold

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), also called crib death or cot death, is the sudden and unexplained death of an infant less than one-year-old. There is no exact known cause of SIDS, but a recent study shows that mothers who smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol during pregnancy may have babies with a 12-fold increased risk of SIDS.

20 Jan 2020

Body weight rises as adults move from education into employment and parenthood

Being an adult is difficult as it is. Now two new reviews have shown that leaving school and getting employed as well as becoming a parent can lead to significant weight gain. The studies from researchers at the University of Cambridge were published in the Obesity Reviews.

20 Jan 2020

Prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure linked to increased risk for SIDS

Children born to mothers who both drank and smoked beyond the first trimester of pregnancy have a 12-fold increased risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) compared to those unexposed or only exposed in the first trimester of pregnancy, according to a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

20 Jan 2020