Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Urgent action needed to better meet the needs of multiple-birth families

Having multiple-birth babies can be a time of wonder and excitement, however, according to the first-ever international collaborative report released today, these babies and their families can face serious disadvantages compared to parents of single-birth babies.

26 May 2019

Online community for women with diabetes engages patient sharing and guides research

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers created an online patient community for women living with all types of diabetes to test whether online communities can engage patients and provide information that can guide research and patient care.

24 May 2019

Sen. Alexander releases bipartisan plan to lower health costs, end surprise bills

In a year already marked by a wide variety of congressional health care legislation, Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the chair and ranking Democrat of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Thursday released the details of a plan they hope can help bring down health costs and eliminate surprise medical bills for patients.

23 May 2019

PM2.5 exposure before and after birth associated with reduction in fundamental cognitive abilities

A growing body of research suggests that exposure to air pollution in the earliest stages of life is associated with negative effects on cognitive abilities.

23 May 2019

Thoughts on body image during pregnancy could indicate women’s emotional wellbeing

Researchers have shown that a new way of assessing women's relationship with their bodies during pregnancy could help predict how well the mother might bond with her unborn baby and her longer-term emotional wellbeing.

23 May 2019

Marijuana use episodes among couples increase likelihood of intimacy events

Marijuana use episodes among couples who frequently use the drug increase the likelihood of experiencing intimacy events, according to the results of a University at Buffalo-led study.

23 May 2019

Novel 3D-printed device detects preterm birth biomarkers

Preterm birth -- defined as birth before the 37th week of gestation -- is the leading complication of pregnancy. If doctors had a simple, accurate and inexpensive way to identify women at risk for the condition, they could develop better prevention strategies.

22 May 2019

Exposure to EDCs can affect sexual development and reproduction of future generations

Exposure to environmental pollutants can cause alterations in brain development that affect sexual development and fertility for several generations, according to findings to be presented in Lyon, at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting, ECE 2019.

20 May 2019

Previous dengue infection could protect against Zika-associated damage

The Zika virus outbreak in Latin America has affected over 60 million people up to now. The infection can have potentially fatal consequences for pregnant women and their unborn children: many children have subsequently been born with malformations of the head, or so-called microcephaly.

18 May 2019

Largest study of women with hyperemesis gravidarum launches in Europe

Women with severe sickness during pregnancy are being invited to join the largest study of the condition in Europe, led by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London.

16 May 2019

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ States race to reverse ‘roe’

Alabama is the latest in a growing list of states passing bans on abortion in an attempt to get the Supreme Court to weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Unlike most of the other state laws that have passed this year, however, the Alabama law would completely ban abortion except when the woman's life was in danger from the pregnancy.

16 May 2019

Babies exposed to opioids prenatally react more strongly to pain

Babies exposed to opioids while their mothers were pregnant with them may need special care even before they start to experience withdrawal symptoms, according to Penn State research.

15 May 2019

LC-MS/MS test for progesterone outperforms traditional immunoassays

Researchers have devised a cheap, non-invasive and specific means to monitor progesterone production in women.

15 May 2019

Physician training makes doctors' DNA to age six times faster than normal

In just a few short weeks, tens of thousands of newly minted doctors will start the most intense year of their training: the first year of residency, also called the intern year.

15 May 2019

Prophylactic antibiotics could halve infection rates after childbirth

Thousands of women could have been spared pain and infection if they were given prophylactic antibiotics following assisted childbirth, advise researchers.

14 May 2019

Sepsis Alliance launches Maternal Sepsis Day to raise awareness and save lives

On May 15, 2019, Sepsis Alliance, the nation’s leading sepsis organization, is launching Maternal Sepsis Day, an annual observance to raise awareness of the unique signs and symptoms of maternal sepsis, bring to life the personal experiences of the women who survived it, and remember those who have died.

14 May 2019