Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Mother's treatment for infection during pregnancy increases child's risk for autism and depression

Risks for autism and depression are higher if one's mother was in hospital with an infection during pregnancy. This is shown by a major Swedish observational study of nearly 1.8 million children.

8 Mar 2019

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What the Health?’ What’s next for the FDA?

The resignation of Scott Gottlieb as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration caught many FDA watchers by surprise. Gottlieb has been an active regulator in a very anti-regulatory Trump administration.

7 Mar 2019

Johns Hopkins researchers to present latest findings on TB and HIV at CROI 2019

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers are attending the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, where they are sharing their latest findings in the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS and related infectious diseases with other top basic, translational and clinical researchers from around the world.

7 Mar 2019

Study finds low rates of lipid screening among women of childbearing age

Eight out of 10 women of childbearing age have never had their cholesterol levels checked, despite clear guidelines to get a first lipid blood test early in adulthood, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 68th Annual Scientific Session.

7 Mar 2019

Young women with family history of high blood pressure have reduced baroreflex sensitivity

New research suggests that young women with a family history of high blood pressure (hypertension) have decreased baroreflex function, which may increase their risk for hypertension later in life. The article, published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurophysiology, was chosen as an APSselect article for March.

7 Mar 2019

Better regulation of the immune system may help manage preeclampsia

Boosting the body's levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4)--an immune system protein that controls inflammation--may help manage the pregnancy complication preeclampsia, according to a new rodent study.

7 Mar 2019

Researchers quantify link between Zika infection and microcephaly in Brazil

Women infected with Zika virus early in pregnancy are almost 17 times more likely to have a child with microcephaly, according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Oliver Brady of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK, and colleagues.

6 Mar 2019

Research on mosaic embryos gives new hope to people seeking infertility treatments

Not every embryo contains 46 perfect chromosomes. Some have more, others have fewer. The result is a common abnormality known as aneuploidy, which occurs in as many as 80 percent of human embryos.

5 Mar 2019

Childbirth in non-hospital settings is far more dangerous than hospital deliveries

Women who give birth in non-hospital settings are three times more likely to encounter complications and perinatal mortality compared with hospital births, according to a new study presented by researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and its affiliated Soroka University Medical Center.

4 Mar 2019

Nicotine could affect human embryonic development at the single-cell level

Nicotine induces widespread adverse effects on human embryonic development at the level of individual cells, researchers report February 28th in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

4 Mar 2019

Researchers discover mechanism for how male sex steroids sculpt brain development

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have discovered a mechanism for how androgens -- male sex steroids -- sculpt brain development. The research, conducted by Margaret M. McCarthy, Ph.D., who Chairs the Department of Pharmacology, could ultimately help researchers understand behavioral development differences between males and females.

4 Mar 2019

New insights into peripartum cardiomyopathy in women

In the current issue of Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications (Special Issue on Women's Cardiovascular Health, Volume 3, Number 4, 2019, Guest Editor Gladys P. Velarde) pp. 403-408(6); DOI: ttps://doi.org/10.15212/CVIA.2017.0066 Dmitry Yaranov, MD and Jeffrey D. Alexis, MD from the College of Medicine, University of Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA and the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA consider peripartum cardiomyopathy.

2 Mar 2019

Mother's dengue immunity influences the severity of Zika infection in infants

Researchers at Duke-NUS Medical School and their colleagues have identified a surprising interaction between dengue and Zika viruses that sheds lights on the significant fetal brain abnormalities linked to Zika virus.

1 Mar 2019

Researchers develop blood test to predict spontaneous preterm birth

Pregnancy can be a time of uncertainty for expecting mothers and their clinical care teams. Nearly 10 percent of births are preterm, taking place before 37 weeks gestation. Preterm birth can result from several conditions, including preterm labor, preterm rupture of the placental membrane, or preeclampsia.

1 Mar 2019

Researchers take important step towards developing artificial ovaries for cancer patients

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg led by Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini from the Chair of Materials Science (biomaterials) and Prof. Dr. Ralf Dittrich from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen have taken an important step towards developing artificial ovaries for patients suffering from cancer.

1 Mar 2019

U.S.-funded initiative associated with reductions in maternal and newborn mortality in Indonesia

A U.S.-funded initiative to improve quality of care and referrals during pregnancy and childbirth in Indonesia resulted in significant reductions in maternal and newborn mortality at participating hospitals, according to a new study led by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

28 Feb 2019