Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

FDA approves brexanolone, first drug developed to treat postpartum depression

Approximately 1 in 9 women in the United States experiences symptoms of postpartum depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

21 Mar 2019

Pregnancy history may be linked to cognitive function in older women, finds study

Healthy cognitive aging is a public health priority, especially as the US population grows older. Until now, not much has been known about the link between pregnancy history and cognitive function in older women. A new study finds that there does not appear to be a link.

20 Mar 2019

Women with undiagnosed diabetes in pregnancy more likely to experience stillbirths

Women who develop diabetes in pregnancy but are not diagnosed are much more likely to experience stillbirth than women without the condition, according to new research.

20 Mar 2019

Mother's diet during pregnancy can impact lung-specific genes of her offspring

Children born to women pregnant during the Dutch famine were more likely to have a constellation of health problems including cardiovascular disease and asthma, but the exact mechanisms that cause this epigenetic inheritance have not been fully explored.

20 Mar 2019

Enzyme inhibitor stops inflammation and neurodevelopmental disorders in mouse models

Work published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that an enzyme inhibitor developed by Professor Bruce Hammock and colleagues at UC Davis reduced inflammation in the brains of mice born to mothers with maternal immune activation.

20 Mar 2019

Mild sleep apnea during pregnancy changes sugar levels and may affect infant growth patterns

A study conducted by Sarah Farabi, PhD, RN, while she was a post-doctoral fellow working with Dr. Teri Hernandez at the University of Colorado College of Nursing and School of Medicine in 2018 found that mild sleep apnea changed sugar levels during pregnancy and was connected to infant growth patterns related to increased risk of obesity.

20 Mar 2019

FDA approves first drug for treatment of postpartum depression in adult women

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Zulresso (brexanolone) injection for intravenous use for the treatment of postpartum depression in adult women. This is the first drug approved by the FDA specifically for PPD.

20 Mar 2019

Miniature brains that can move muscles, grown in the lab

Researchers have successfully created miniature organoid brains in the labs that when attached to a spinal cord and muscles could help move the muscles.

19 Mar 2019

Premature babies also have protective anti-viral antibodies

Even premature babies carry anti-viral antibodies transferred from the mother, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report in a paper on maternal antibodies in newborns, published in the journal Nature Medicine.

18 Mar 2019

Painkillers taken by pregnant mothers unlikely to cause asthma in the child

Paracetamol or other painkillers taken during pregnancy are unlikely to cause asthma in the child, according to a large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Queen Mary University of London.

18 Mar 2019

Team-based approach is key to successful care of pregnant women with heart failure

Any time a pregnant woman presents in heart failure there are risks to both mother and baby. What does it take to protect the mother and her growing baby for the best possible outcome?

18 Mar 2019

World's oldest semen viable for artificial insemination

Semen stored since 1968 in a laboratory in Sydney has been defrosted and successfully used to impregnate 34 Merino ewes, with the resulting live birth rate as high sperm frozen for just 12 months.

18 Mar 2019

Taking painkillers during pregnancy is not responsible for asthma risk in children, study shows

A study of almost 500,000 women indicates that taking paracetamol or other painkillers during pregnancy is not responsible for increasing the risk of asthma in children.

18 Mar 2019

Simple urine test can rapidly detect preeclampsia

Researchers with The Ohio State University College of Medicine, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children's Hospital have found that a simple urine test can rapidly detect one of the world's deadliest pregnancy-related conditions, which could have a major impact on global health.

13 Mar 2019

Cancer imaging technique can help detect preeclampsia in pregnancy

An imaging technique used to detect some forms of cancer can also help detect preeclampsia in pregnancy before it becomes a life-threatening condition, a new Tulane study says.

13 Mar 2019

Forty percent of parents are not co-sleeping safely with their babies

According to a survey of 8551 people, 40 percent of parents are not following safe co-sleeping practices with their babies, and this is significantly increasing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

12 Mar 2019

Smoking during pregnancy increases SUID risk

The first findings to result from a collaboration between Seattle Children's Research Institute and Microsoft data scientists provides expecting mothers new information about how smoking before and during pregnancy contributes to the risk of an infant dying suddenly and unexpectedly before their first birthday.

11 Mar 2019