Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Study looks at outcomes of birth options after a previous cesarean section

A large cohort study of women who have had one or more previous cesarean sections suggests that attempting a vaginal birth in a subsequent pregnancy is associated with higher health risks to both the mother and the infant than electing for another cesarean.

From PLOS ONE 18 Sep 2019

Early childhood trauma linked to poorer health for women

Researchers have long known that childhood trauma is linked to poorer health for women at midlife. A new study shows one important reason why.

17 Sep 2019

Computer scientist wins $2.3 million to develop AI that patients can use to manage health

Samantha Kleinberg, a computer scientist at Stevens Institute of Technology and pioneer in wearable technologies, has secured roughly $2.3 million in three new grants by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health to develop artificial intelligence that provides personalized information to patients so they can take an active part in managing their health.

17 Sep 2019

Midwives need more support to deliver advice on alcohol consumption in pregnancy

A new study funded by the Institute of Alcohol Studies – ‘Alcohol guidelines for pregnant women: Barriers and enablers for midwives to deliver advice’ – highlights the inconsistency in official guidance that led to midwives giving different advice on alcohol consumption in pregnancy.

17 Sep 2019

Bone marrow-derived cells also travel to the womb to help pregnancy

Bone marrow-derived cells play a role in changes to the mouse uterus before and during pregnancy, enabling implantation of the embryo and reducing pregnancy loss, according to research published September 12 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

From PLOS ONE 17 Sep 2019

Forced first intercourse common, leaves behind long-term health scars

A harrowing new study published on September 17, 2019, in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, reports that over 3 million women in the US were introduced to sex via rape, cutting across all social groups.

17 Sep 2019

Gut bacterial changes influence lupus treatment results in pregnancy

The course of pregnancy, like that of true love, doesn’t always run smooth when you have lupus, correctly called systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This autoimmune disease is an occasionally violent, occasionally subdued, chronic inflammation that constantly smolders within multiple tissues in the body.

16 Sep 2019

Paracetamol use during pregnancy linked to childhood behavioral problems

A new study has found further evidence linking paracetamol intake during pregnancy with potential adverse behavioral and cognitive outcomes during childhood.

16 Sep 2019

Bone marrow cells contribute to pregnancy success in mouse model

Scientists report that stem cells derived from the adult bone marrow can dictate whether a woman becomes pregnant.

13 Sep 2019

A dubious product: A rape kit for home use

Alongside other "essential" household supplies for sale on Amazon, there's now a product offered that might give consumers pause: an at-home rape kit.

13 Sep 2019

Forbidden fruit: Scientists venture into “embryoid” manufacturing

After working on stem cells for several years, scientists have now announced that they have found a way to synthesize structures that look like very primitive human embryos. While some hailed the discovery, others questioned the ethical basis of manufacturing synthetic humans.

12 Sep 2019

Long acting reversible contraceptives placed on same day could cut costs

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine have studied the utility of making available a long acting reversible contraceptive for teenagers on the same day. They write that this small measure of making these contraceptives available on the same day could save the insurance providers a significant amount of money.

12 Sep 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Despite booming economy, uninsured rate ticks up

The annual report from the Census Bureau, released this week, found that 27.5 million Americans were without health insurance last year, an increase of nearly 2 million from 2017.

12 Sep 2019

Researchers are working to develop new biosensor for detecting recurrence of prostate cancer

A team of researchers from the University of Houston and the University of Pennsylvania are working to bring a new biosensor for detecting the recurrence of prostate cancer to the doctor's office.

12 Sep 2019

New model for vaginal microbiome transplantation

Bacterial vaginosis is a condition affecting thousands of women worldwide, and is associated not only with vaginal symptoms but with pregnancy-related complications including preterm labor and stillbirth. Now researchers have come up with an effective way to replace the unhealthy vaginal microflora with a ready-to-use microbiome – called a vaginal microbiome transplantation (VMT).

11 Sep 2019

Taller people at lower risk for type 2 diabetes

A new German study has found that taller people are at a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study titled, “Associations of short stature and components of height with incidence of type 2 diabetes: mediating effects of cardiometabolic risk factors,” was published in the latest issue of the journal Diabetologia.

11 Sep 2019

New cardiovascular home-monitoring program to detect concerning trends in postpartum women

America has the highest maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and it's getting worse. Since cardiovascular disease is the primary cause, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Magee-Womens Research Institute created a blood pressure home-monitoring program to rapidly detect concerning trends in postpartum women before their situation becomes critical.

11 Sep 2019

NIH partners with Apple and Harvard for long-term study of women's health

The National Institutes of Health, Apple, and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health announced their research partnership for a major long-term study of women's health.

11 Sep 2019

Study finds upward trend in number of pregnant women with high blood pressure

The number of women with high blood pressure when they become pregnant or who have it diagnosed during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy has spiked in the United States over the last four decades, especially among black women, according to new research in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension.

9 Sep 2019

Maternal anxiety increases child's risk for ADHD

A large study has shown that children of mothers who are anxious during pregnancy and in the first few years of the child's life have twice the risk of having hyperactivity symptoms at age 16. This work is being presented for the first time at the ECNP Congress in Copenhagen.

9 Sep 2019