Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Biologic changes after delivery may prevent development of chronic pain

Chronic pain from childbirth is remarkably rare, according to a study from the January issue of Anesthesiology. Additionally, in a second study, researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C., found the biologic changes after delivery may prevent the development of pain.

19 Dec 2012

Roundup: Minn. court rules relatives deserve same pay for personal care attendant work; Colo. governor wants $18.5M for expanded mental health care

The state's effort to reduce pay for some personal care attendants has hit a snag. The Minnesota Appeals Court ruled Monday that the state's attempt to pay PCAs who care for relatives 20 percent less than other personal care attendants is unconstitutional. "They have the same training, they have the same experience, they're limited to the same number of maximum hours," said attorney David Bradley Olsen, who represents 11 agencies and several personal care assistants who sued over the matter.

19 Dec 2012

Pelvic girdle pain persists postpartum despite cesarean section

Women who experience pelvic girdle syndrome during pregnancy and undergo cesarean section are still at an increased risk for PGS 6 months after childbirth, research shows.

18 Dec 2012

Misoprostol helps prevent postpartum haemorrhage after home births

Research brings together evidence about the potential for misoprostol to prevent bleeding after home births in low resource countries.

18 Dec 2012

SLU receives $460,000 grant to expand efforts to detect and treat postpartum depression

Saint Louis University has received a three-year, $460,000 grant from the Maternal Child and Family Health Coalition (MCHFC) and St. Louis Mental Health Board to expand efforts to detect and treat postpartum depression in new mothers.

18 Dec 2012

Researchers identify possible heredity mechanism that predisposes children to ALL

Researchers at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center and the University of Montreal have found a possible heredity mechanism that predisposes children to acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common type of blood cancer in children. According to their findings published in Genome Research, the presence of a genetic defect in the egg or sperm from which children having ALL arise may be a prerequisite for the disease to develop.

17 Dec 2012

FDA grants accelerated approval to ARIAD’s Iclusig for treatment of CML, Ph+ ALL

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that following a priority review, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted accelerated approval of Iclusig (ponatinib) for the treatment of adult patients with chronic, accelerated or blast phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) that is resistant or intolerant to prior tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy or Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ ALL) that is resistant or intolerant to prior TKI therapy.

14 Dec 2012

FDA approves Novartis Signifor injection for treatment of Cushing's disease

Novartis announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Signifor (pasireotide) injection for the treatment of adult patients with Cushing's disease for whom pituitary surgery is not an option or has not been curative.

14 Dec 2012

Australian researchers to establish dedicated asthma service for pregnant women

Researchers in Australia will establish the world's first dedicated asthma service for pregnant women in a trial of what they hope will reduce the adverse effects of asthma on the growth and survival of babies.

14 Dec 2012

Study finds new evidence that vitamin D decreases risk of autism in children

A study just published online in the peer-reviewed journal Dermato-Endocrinology found additional evidence that vitamin D reduces the risk of developing autism.

14 Dec 2012

Administration of N2O + ISO appears to have negative effect on fetal development

An anesthetic regimen typically used during surgery on pregnant mothers appears to have a negative effect on the development of the fetus, according to a new study on mice conducted by neurobiologists from the National Center for Toxicological Research, in Arizona.

14 Dec 2012

TUBB5 gene responsible for microcephaly: IMP study

Neurobiologists at the Research institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna have discovered one of the key genes required to make a brain. Mutations in this gene, called TUBB5, cause neurodevelopmental disease in children.

14 Dec 2012

New global disease burden data should inform global health spending

"On Dec. 14, the Lancet together with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation [IHME] will release their study on global burden of disease, injuries and risk factors in 2010," Karl Hofmann, president and CEO of Population Services International, writes in a Devex opinion piece, adding, "These 'gold standard' data will quantify the world's health problems by examining statistics for 291 diseases and injuries and 67 different risk factors for 21 regions across three time periods -- 1990, 2005 and 2010."

14 Dec 2012

New evidence about benefits of marriage

There's new evidence about the benefits of marriage. Women who are married suffer less partner abuse, substance abuse or post-partum depression around the time of pregnancy than women who are cohabitating or do not have a partner, a new study has found.

14 Dec 2012

Texas Governor calls for late-term abortion ban

Citing what he called fetal pain, former GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry urged state lawmakers to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. He said his ultimate goal was to eliminate abortions altogether.

13 Dec 2012

Reproductive Health Matters' supplement issue focuses on pregnancy decisions of HIV-positive women

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today publication of Reproductive Health Matters' 2012 supplement issue "Pregnancy decisions of women living with HIV".

13 Dec 2012

Delayed childbearing may protect against triple-negative breast cancer

Younger women who wait at least 15 years after their first menstrual period to give birth to their first child may reduce their risk of an aggressive form of breast cancer by up to 60 percent, according to a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study.

12 Dec 2012

Adversity in childhood can shape long-term health outcomes

Noting the "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence," Neil Boothby, U.S. government special adviser and senior coordinator to the USAID administrator on children in adversity, writes in USAID's "IMPACTblog," "The science is clear -- childhood experiences shape adult outcomes, including long-term health, cognitive development, academic achievement, and one's ability to be gainfully and safely employed."

12 Dec 2012

CYP2J2 implicated in preeclampsia

Study findings suggest that uteroplacental cytochrome P450 subfamily 2J polypeptide 2 overexpression contributes to preeclampsia.

11 Dec 2012

Pay attention to pregnant workers with pelvic girdle pain

Researchers say that clinicians must give more attention to working women who experience pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy to prevent recurrence during the postpartum period.

11 Dec 2012