Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Estimating number of births without skilled birth attendants in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa

Noting that the "fifth Millennium Development Goal target for 90 percent of births in low- and middle-income countries to have a skilled birth attendant (SBA) by 2015 will not be met," researchers from University College London estimate "that there will be between 130 and 180 million non-SBA births in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa from 2011 to 2015 (90 percent of these in rural areas)" in this BioMed Central Pregnancy & Childbirth article.

19 Jan 2012

Gilead Sciences receives FDA approval for Viread to treat pediatric HIV infection

Gilead Sciences, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Viread in combination with other antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in pediatric patients ages 2-12.

19 Jan 2012

Link between prenatal exposure to armed conflict and birth weight

A new study shows pregnant women exposed to armed conflict have a higher risk of giving birth to underweight babies, a result that could change the way aid is delivered to developing countries.

19 Jan 2012

Watson introduces new oral contraceptive, Vestura

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Watson Pharma, Inc. has launched Vestura(TM), a generic version of Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Yaz(R) oral contraceptive product.

18 Jan 2012

State roundup: Single-payer plans in Calif., Vt.; Calif. may regain state prison health care control; Abortion issues in Texas, Minn.

The California universal health care bill didn't make it past the Senate Appropriations Committee last year -- but Tuesday, more than 100 advocates plan to present it to the committee again, hoping for a better outcome. Under the single-payer bill, Californians would pay the state -- instead of private insurance companies -- to negotiate health care. The bill would cover any resident, including the estimated 7 million Californians who don't have health insurance now. ... A legislative health committee estimated the cost of plan would be around $200 billion.

18 Jan 2012

Two new studies focus on causes of arrhythmia and SCD

Researchers in Rhode Island Hospital's Cardiovascular Research Center have published two new studies focusing on the causes of arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death (SCD) when a genetic disorder is present.

18 Jan 2012

Timing of alcohol consumption during pregnancy linked with FAS characteristics

Researchers at the California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS) Pregnancy Health Information Line, a state-wide non-profit organization based at the University of California, San Diego, have found new links between the timing of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and certain characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

18 Jan 2012

Chronology of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome revealed

It is known from studies that exposure to alcohol during gestation can cause a range of birth defects. But now scientists have drawn up a chronology of when the damage occurs.

17 Jan 2012

Canada should prohibit disclosure of fetal sex until 30 weeks of pregnancy

Canada should prohibit disclosure of the sex of a fetus until after 30 weeks of pregnancy to combat female feticide which is practised by some ethnic groups in Canada and the United States, states an editorial in CMAJ.

17 Jan 2012

Study examines quantity, frequency and timing of alcohol consumption during pregnancy

Prenatal exposure to alcohol is associated with a spectrum of abnormalities, referred to as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Physical features of the more serious Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) include smooth philtrum, thin vermillion border, short palpebral fissures, microcephaly, and growth deficiencies in weight and height. A new study has specified how specific quantities of alcohol exposure, patterns of drinking, and timing of exposure can have an impact on each of these features.

17 Jan 2012

Implanting more embryos for IVF may do more harm than good: Study

Researchers have suggested that implanting multiple embryos for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) may do more harm than good. This finding appeared in the current online version of the journal Lancet. The study argues against common practice of implanting multiple embryos in order to maximize a woman’s chances of conception during in vitro fertilization.

15 Jan 2012

Longer looks: Politicians play Whac-A-Mole with Medicare

Seven years later Robert was still mentally impaired and his personality far different than before the accident, but he knew his family, knew he had had a brain injury that upended their lives, and asked lots of questions. He carried with him at all times a reporter's notebook, in which he had written the information most important to him: his daughters' ages -; 9 and 11 -; and that he has "known my honey" 18 years.

13 Jan 2012

PLoS ONE journal publishes UVM team's study, Positivity of the English Language

"If it bleeds, it leads," goes the cynical saying with television and newspaper editors. In other words, most news is bad news and the worst news gets the big story on the front page. So one might expect the New York Times to contain, on average, more negative and unhappy types of words - like "war," " funeral," "cancer," "murder" - than positive, happy ones - like "love," "peace" and "hero."

13 Jan 2012

Smoking during pregnancy does not cause ASD in children

A large population-based study in Sweden indicates that there is no link between smoking during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children.

13 Jan 2012

MainStreet names PAF as second-highest rated national charity in America

The Virginia-based Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) announced today that a new analysis from personal finance news website MainStreet, also reported on MSN Money, has named PAF as the second-highest rated national charity in America.

13 Jan 2012

Clinical trial to compare Aria's prenatal test and standard first-trimester screening for T21

Aria Diagnostics, a molecular diagnostics company, announced that it is initiating a blinded, multicenter clinical trial that compares its non-invasive prenatal test with the standard first-trimester screening test (serum screening and nuchal translucency ultrasound alone and in combination) to detect Trisomy 21, which is associated with Down syndrome.

13 Jan 2012