Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Views on Akin and women's health: 'A debate the GOP had hoped to avoid;' Views harkening back to colonial times

Commentators examine the repercussions of the Missouri Senate candidate's comments about rape and abortion.

23 Aug 2012

Surface electromyography can rehabilitate muscles in children with cranial nerve palsy

A child's smile is something we take for granted. But muscle dysfunction can turn a simple expression of joy into a challenge. Surface electromyography provides a noninvasive method of sensing muscle activity that can be used for muscle rehabilitation—and to bring a smile to a child's face.

22 Aug 2012

Do Akin's rape comments put GOP ticket in harm's way?

News outlets analyze the potential repercussions to Mitt Romney's presidential bid by the statements made by Missouri Senate Republican candidate Todd Akin. Also examined is presumptive GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan's co-sponsorship of legislation with Akin, including one that would give legal protection to an embryo.

22 Aug 2012

HIV-related stigma keeps Kenyan pregnant women from having babies in health-care facilities

The fear of being labeled HIV-positive is strong enough to keep mothers in one Kenyan province from having babies in health-care facilities, according to a study published online today in the journal PLOS Medicine. Communities there have come to see clinics and skilled care as mostly for HIV-positive women.

22 Aug 2012

Chemotherapy during pregnancy: an interview with Professor Sibylle Loibl

The incidence is about 1-3% of all breast cancers. The incidence seems to be increasing due to women delaying their childbearing to when they are in their thirties.

22 Aug 2012

Healthcare announces important changes to the U.S. product label for Optison

GE Healthcare today announced important changes to the U.S. product label for Optison (Perflutren Protein-Type A Microspheres Injectable Suspension, USP), a contrast agent that may improve the visualization of the left ventricular border - an area of the heart that is critical to see in order to diagnose certain heart diseases such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

22 Aug 2012

Childhood asthma link shows it is never too soon for mums to quit smoking

Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk for asthma and wheezing in early childhood, even if children are not exposed to smoke after birth, a European study shows.

21 Aug 2012

Pregnant women have higher rate of undiagnosed depression

Major depression affects as many as 16% of reproductive-aged women in the U.S. Yet pregnant women have a higher rate of undiagnosed depression than nonpregnant women, according to a study published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

21 Aug 2012

Working out during pregnancy wards off muscle pain

Not enough healthy pregnant women are doing the recommended amount of physical exercise, suggest study findings.

20 Aug 2012

Mo. Senate candidate blasted for comments on rape

Republican Rep. Todd Akin, who is challenging Sen. Claire McCaskill, suggested in a TV interview that some rapes are "legitimate" and women can shut down a pregnancy from such an attack.

20 Aug 2012

'Not enough exercise' cited as top children's health concern

Adults across the U.S. rate not getting enough exercise as the top health concern for children in 2012, according to a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.

20 Aug 2012

Ryan's positions on women's issues becomes campaign target

Politico reports on how Rep. Paul Ryan's record on reproductive issues -- including co-sponosring a "personhood amendment" that would declare a fertilized egg to be a person, and voting to defund Planned Parenthood -- could widen President Barack Obama's lead among women. Meanwhile, a controversial comment about rape by a GOP candidate running for Senate in Missouri has stirred anger and angst.

20 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 20, 2012

Today's headlines focus on how the Medicare story is continuing to unfold on the presidential campaign trail.

20 Aug 2012

Arteriovenous malformations increase risk for pregnancy hemorrhage

Women with a diagnosis of arteriovenous malformation are at increased risk for severe bleeding during pregnancy, show study findings.

17 Aug 2012

Smoking during pregnancy associated with wheezing and asthma in preschool children

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with wheeze and asthma in preschool children, even among children who were not exposed to maternal smoking late in pregnancy or after birth, according to a new study.

17 Aug 2012

Pregnant women who undergo chemotherapy do not appear to increase their baby’s risk of complications

The babies of breast cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy while pregnant do not appear to be at higher risk of complications, according to an Article published Online First in The Lancet Oncology.

16 Aug 2012

Study tracks effects of heavy PAE on growth and body composition throughout childhood

Although studies of alcohol's effects on fetal growth have consistently demonstrated deficits that persist through infancy, the data on long-term postnatal growth from human studies have been inconsistent. A new study of the effects of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on growth and body composition throughout childhood has found growth restrictions that persist through to nine years of age, as well as a delay in weight gain during infancy, both of which were exacerbated by iron deficiency.

16 Aug 2012

Older father, US-born Hispanic mother, increases childhood retinoblastoma risk

The risk for retinoblastoma in children under 6 years of age is associated with paternal age and maternal birthplace and ethnicity, show US study results.

15 Aug 2012

Novel device provides retina's neural code to restore normal vision

Two researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have deciphered a mouse's retina's neural code and coupled this information to a novel prosthetic device to restore sight to blind mice.

15 Aug 2012

Scientists use supercomputers to reveal links between known risk factors and heart biology

About 25,000 Danes currently live with congenital heart defects. Both heredity and environment play a role for these malformations, but exactly how various risk factors influence the development of the heart during pregnancy has been a mystery until now.

15 Aug 2012