Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Parents most influence teens' decisions about sex

The teen birth rate in the United States declined 6% in 2009 and is now at a record low, according to new data released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. Rates declined among older and younger teens and among all racial and ethnic groups. For example, the birth rate among Hispanic teens declined 10% in 2009 and is now at a record low.

22 Dec 2010

Prenatal iron-folic acid supplementation increases intellectual, motor function in children

In developing countries where iron deficiency is prevalent, prenatal iron-folic acid supplementation increased offspring intellectual and motor functioning during school age, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

22 Dec 2010

Obstetrics and Gynecology: One third of pregnant women are not screened for gestational diabetes

Nearly one third of pregnant women are not being screened by a simple laboratory test for gestational diabetes mellitus (gestational diabetes), according to a study of more than 900,000 American women published online today in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

From Quest Diagnostics 21 Dec 2010

Royal DSM to acquire Martek for $1,087 million

Royal DSM N.V., the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company, and Martek Biosciences Corporation today announce that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which DSM will acquire all the outstanding shares of common stock of Martek for US$31.50 in cash per share for total consideration of US$1,087 million.

21 Dec 2010

Mums urged not to delay births for leave scheme

Many Australian couples are delaying having a baby in order to access the federal government’s paid parental leave scheme. The scheme begins at the start of the New Year and allows eligible parents to access up to 18 weeks pay at the minimum wage. Figures show that from January 1, 2011 an estimated 148,000 families will be eligible to receive a payment of $570 a week before tax, or $10,260 over 18 weeks.

20 Dec 2010

Genentech confirms EMA, FDA updates on Avastin for metastatic breast cancer

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, confirmed that following the reviews of Avastin® (bevacizumab) in metastatic breast cancer by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the following regulatory announcements were made by the individual health authorities:

17 Dec 2010

Human fetal immune system entirely different from adult immune system

UCSF researchers have shown for the first time that the human fetal immune system arises from an entirely different source than the adult immune system, and is more likely to tolerate than fight foreign substances in its environment.

17 Dec 2010

First comprehensive guide to hospital emergency preparedness exercise development

With the publication of the nation's first comprehensive, federally funded guide to hospital emergency preparedness exercise development, Dr. Nathaniel Hupert at Weill Cornell Medical College and his collaborators have provided a new toolset for strengthening hospitals' ability to protect communities nationwide against public health disasters, such as creating care centers during an influenza pandemic or treating casualties in the wake of a bioterrorism attack.

17 Dec 2010

Bayer's SAFYRAL oral contraceptive receives FDA approval

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new oral contraceptive (OC), SAFYRAL™ (drospirenone 3 mg/ ethinyl estradiol 30 mcg/ levomefolate calcium 451 mcg tablets and levomefolate calcium 451 mcg tablets). In women who choose an OC for birth control, SAFYRAL raises folate levels for the purpose of reducing the risk of rare neural tube defects (NTDs) in a pregnancy conceived while taking SAFYRAL or shortly after discontinuing it.

17 Dec 2010

Over quarter million women who gave birth in hospitals had pre-existing diabetes or developed gestational diabetes

More than a quarter million women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals in 2008 had pre-existing diabetes or developed it during their pregnancy - a condition called gestational diabetes, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This equals 6.4 percent of the 4.2 million women who gave birth in that year.

17 Dec 2010

Some cancers more prevalent in the wealthy

A new report has shown that Australians living in wealthy areas are more likely to get breast, prostate and skin cancers than those living in poorer zones. The report from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, released yesterday also shows that those living in disadvantaged parts of the country are more likely to have bowel, cervical and lung cancers. Not so much with bowel cancer, but lung cancer incidence varied to a large extent. Main results showed;

16 Dec 2010

Living near freeway linked to increased risk of autism

Living near a freeway may be associated with increased risk of autism, according to a study published by a team of researchers from Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and the UC Davis MIND Institute.

16 Dec 2010

Opinions: Kangaroo care; NTDs, Women's health

New York Times contributing writer Tina Rosen, on the newspaper's "Opinionator" blog, examines the success of a system known as kangaroo care, which has helped to improve the survival rates of premature infants by using skin-to-skin contact with mothers in place of incubators in low-resource settings. The post notes the potential value of such a strategy in poor countries "where pregnant women are unlikely to get the food and care they need," and "low birth weight babies are very common."

16 Dec 2010

New report on improving outcome of pregnancy

Moms and babies everywhere deserve high quality health care, and a new report from the March of Dimes and its partners offers providers a vision for how to offer top-notch services while giving moms practical tips to help them make smart choices.

15 Dec 2010

Flu vaccination during pregnancy prevents infant hospitalization

A three-year study by Yale School of Medicine researchers has found that vaccinating pregnant women against influenza is over 90 percent effective in preventing their infants from being hospitalized with influenza in the first six months of life.

15 Dec 2010

Clinical trial investigates pomalidomide in only U.S. study for multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer in which malignant plasma cells are overproduced in the bone marrow, has led to an estimated 20,000 new diagnoses and 11,000 deaths in 2010. Patients with the disease, who have already failed previous treatments, may be considered for a currently enrolling Phase II study, examining a unique drug combination.

14 Dec 2010

Neonaticide is more common than previously thought

Although rare, the true incidence of neonaticides - the unlawful killing of a baby within the first 24 hours of its life - is more than five times as common as official estimates suggest, suggests research published online in the Fetal and Neonatal edition of the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

14 Dec 2010

Vitamin D deficiency flagged as a major concern in South Asia

Bone health experts attending the 1st Asia-Pacific Osteoporosis Meeting in Singapore this week have flagged vitamin D deficiency as a major concern in the region, particularly in South Asia where the problem is especially severe and widespread across the entire population.

14 Dec 2010

Drug to reverse immunological decline in aging

UCSF researchers have identified an existing medication that restores key elements of the immune system that, when out of balance, lead to a steady decline in immunity and health as people age.

14 Dec 2010

Elsevier announces special Issue on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

Elsevier Inc., the world's leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information, announced today that Alcohol has published a special year-end double issue on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). It fills an urgent need to bring the widest possible readership current perspectives on using new research methods to improve identification and diagnosis of offspring at risk for FASD and its associated brain damage and behavioral dysfunction.

13 Dec 2010