Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Overall risk of stillbirth low among ART children

The group looked at 60,650 singletons in a common Nordic database from ART registers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and compared these to a control group of 360,022 naturally conceived (NC) singletons. In both groups 0.4 % of singletons were stillborn, with a definition of stillbirth as a dead child after 22 weeks of gestation.

6 Jul 2011

Cumulus cells can provide information about genetic and chromosomal status of eggs

At present, when a woman undergoes preimplantation genetic screening (PGS) in a fertility clinic, doctors are trying to select an egg or an embryo that is healthy and doesn't have a chromosome abnormality such as an extra copy of chromosome 21, which causes Down's syndrome. In order to establish this, they either have to biopsy a part of the egg called the polar body or remove a cell from the embryo for screening. Both procedures are expensive, invasive and can damage the egg or embryo.

6 Jul 2011

Specialist RM clinic helps women achieve subsequent live birth

The researchers studied the records of 987 women with a minimum of three consecutive miscarriages, who had been referred to a specialist RM clinic between 1986 and 2008.

6 Jul 2011

EIM collects data on frozen oocyte retrieval cycles for the first time

Other important data the European IVF Monitoring group (EIM) on 2008 cycles and the International Committee Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART) on 2007 cycles highlighted were Sweden's low rate of multiple births - the lowest in the world - and Spain's 30 % share of egg donations in Europe.

6 Jul 2011

Researchers investigate predictors for adverse outcome in IVF singletons

In Sweden almost 40 000 children have now been born after IVF, around 3 500 each year, and IVF children constitute 3% of all newborns. "This represents a large number of children and any adverse outcomes related to IVF are therefore a major public health issue," said Dr. Antonina Sazonova, from Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden, who carried out the research with colleagues from the hospital and from Lund University.

6 Jul 2011

The essential role of midwives

Mary Ellen Stanton, a senior maternal health advisor at USAID, and Chris Thomas, global health communications and policy advisor at USAID, outline the agency's work to promote better health outcomes for women and children in the developing world on GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog.

6 Jul 2011

Maternal smoking cessation improves perinatal outcomes in children

Low birthweight is the most common negative outcome of smoking during pregnancy, but foetuses exposed to maternal smoking are also at risk of premature birth and the associated problem of brain damage, as well as congenital abnormalities such as cleft lip.

6 Jul 2011

Maternal anxiety, depression may increase risk of asthma in children

Anxiety, stress and depression during pregnancy may lead to a greater risk of asthma for your child. Study results are published in the July issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

6 Jul 2011

Infants treated with certain HIV medication more likely to experience adrenal dysfunction

Infants of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) infected mothers who were treated before and after birth with the protease inhibitor lopinavir-ritonavir were more likely to experience adrenal dysfunction, including life-threatening adrenal insufficiency in premature infants, compared with a zidovudine-based regimen, according to a preliminary report in the July 6 issue of JAMA.

6 Jul 2011

Study: 'Vanishing twin' linked to increased risk of congenital malformations

Professor Michael Davies will tell the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today that the "vanishing twin" phenomenon, in which only one child is born from a pregnancy that originally starts as a multiple pregnancy, is linked to a nearly two-fold increased risk in any congenital malformation and to a nearly three-fold risk of multiple malformations.

6 Jul 2011

Clearblue Digital Ovulation test safe, non-invasive for women trying to conceive

Dr. Jayne Ellis, Director of Scientific and Medical Affairs at SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Geneva, Switzerland, makers of the test, explained that it consisted of a digital reader and urine test sticks, which could detect the surge in luteinising hormone (LH) that triggers ovulation.

5 Jul 2011

Periodontal disease can affect woman's chance of conceiving

Professor Roger Hart told the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology that the negative effect of gum disease on conception was of the same order of magnitude as the effect of obesity.

5 Jul 2011

Study: Threatened miscarriages complicate 20% of all pregnancies

Dr Kaltum Adam, an honorary clinical research fellow at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester (UK), told the annual meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology that around 20% of all pregnancies were complicated by threatened miscarriage, and up to 20% of these would miscarry.

5 Jul 2011

Cleavage stage embryo with aneuploidy can undergo genetic normalisation process

Professor William G. Kearns told the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology that a three-day-old embryo with an incorrect number of chromosomes was capable of undergoing "a dynamic process of genetic normalisation" so that by day five, when it had developed to the blastocyst stage, it had become euploid, with the correct number of chromosomes.

5 Jul 2011

ICSI study shows strong increase in first trimester pregnancy loss after the age of 38

The research, presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, also showed that rates of preclinical abortion, miscarriage and overall pregnancy loss during the first trimester remained more or less constant until the age of 34, but increased steadily from the age of 35 onwards.

5 Jul 2011

Antidepressants during first trimester linked to increased risk of autism

Prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, especially during the first trimester, is associated with a modest increase the risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder, according to a report published Online First in the Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

5 Jul 2011

Autism Speaks announces significant findings from largest study of twins with ASD

Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, joined in announcing significant findings from the largest known study of twins with autism spectrum disorder.

5 Jul 2011

Anti-depressants during early pregnancy linked to increased risk of autism

Exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors anti-depressants in early pregnancy may modestly increase risk of autism spectrum disorders, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the current issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

5 Jul 2011

Shared environment influences susceptibility to autism more than previously thought

The largest and most rigorous twin study of its kind to date has found that shared environment influences susceptibility to autism more than previously thought.

5 Jul 2011

Hope for fertility spreads through postcards

The campaign sends a multiplied message of hope for fertility in form of postcards with stories, including the key message on prevention and treatment. Thousands of postcards with moving stories are expected to cross Europe until October 2011.

4 Jul 2011