Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

The importance of the endocannabinoid-system

Cannabis (marijuana) is the most widely produced plant-based illicit drug worldwide and the illegal drug most frequently used in Europe.

15 Oct 2007

Annual maternal mortality ratio decline rate below target

The world's maternal mortality ratio (the number of maternal deaths per 100 000 live births) is declining too slowly to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5, which aims to reduce the number of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth by three-quarters by 2015.

15 Oct 2007

Improving working memory by computerized strategy in ADHD

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a state of serious impairments in both learning ability and social functioning, is one of many labels for one of the most prevalent conditions in child psychiatry, and, undoubtedly, the most controversial, which partly persists into adulthood.

15 Oct 2007

Arsenic exposure during pregnancy linked to low-birth-weight infants

Bangladeshi women exposed to high levels of arsenic during pregnancy are at increased risk of having a low-birth-weight infant, reports a study in the October Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine , official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

15 Oct 2007

Chlamydia makes men infertile

One of the most common sexually transmitted diseases may be damaging the fertility of British males.

15 Oct 2007

To drink or not while pregnant? that is the question

Pregnant women are now being told that it is safe to drink a daily glass of wine adding more confusion to the advice metered out to women.

11 Oct 2007

Link between woman's hips and daughter's risk of breast cancer

In a study of the maternity records of more than 6,000 women, David J.P. Barker, M.D., Ph.D., and Kent Thornburg, Ph.D., of Oregon Health & Science University discovered a strong correlation between the size and shape of a woman's hips and her daughter's risk of breast cancer.

9 Oct 2007

Attitudes of teenagers and professionals to sex, relationships, sexual health and teenage pregnancy

The findings of a two year cross-channel teenage pregnancy project will be presented at a conference in Amiens on 8 October.

8 Oct 2007

Largest study of child health ever conducted in the United States

The UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities has been selected as one of 22 new study centers for the National Children's Study, a nationwide project designed to assess the effects of environmental and genetic factors on children's health in the United States.

4 Oct 2007

Infant mortality rates decline in New York City

New York City's infant mortality rate - widely regarded as a barometer of a population's general health - fell slightly in 2006, the Health Department reported today.

4 Oct 2007

Cholesterol levels both high and low linked to premature births

A new study suggests that not only is a very low level of cholesterol a danger to pregnant women, but high cholesterol too increases the risk of premature birth.

3 Oct 2007

Fetal cell transplant could be a hidden link between childbirth and reduced risk of breast cancer

Some benefits of motherhood are intangible, but one has been validated through biostatistical research: women who bear children have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

3 Oct 2007

Supreme Court declines to consider challenge to New York contraceptive coverage law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will not consider a challenge to a New York law that requires employers who offer prescription drug plans to provide coverage for FDA-approved contraceptives for women, the New York Times reports (Greenhouse, New York Times, 10/2).

2 Oct 2007

Connecticut Catholic Bishops agree to comply with law requiring hospitals to dispense EC to rape survivors

Connecticut's Roman Catholic bishops on Thursday said that the state's four Catholic hospitals will comply with a law (SB 1343) that takes effect Monday and requires all hospitals in the state to dispense emergency contraception to rape survivors, the Hartford Courant reports (Keating, Hartford Courant, 9/28).

2 Oct 2007

EEOC files lawsuit against Bloomberg L.P. over maternity leave discrimination

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Thursday in a U.S. District Court in New York City filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg L.P. -- the financial and media company founded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- saying the company discriminated against three female employees after they became pregnant and took maternity leave, the New York Times reports.

2 Oct 2007

Fetal cell "transplant" could be a hidden link between childbirth and reduced risk of breast cancer

Some benefits of motherhood are intangible, but one has been validated through biostatistical research: women who bear children have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

2 Oct 2007

Obese moms-to-be should gain less weight than currently recommended

Severely obese women should lose weight during pregnancy, while obese women who are pregnant should gain less weight than currently recommended, a Saint Louis University study finds.

2 Oct 2007

Residual fetal cells in women may provide protection against breast cancer

Fetal cells that persist in a woman's body long after pregnancy - a common occurrence known in scientific circles as fetal microchimerism - in some cases may reduce the woman's risk of breast cancer, according to researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

2 Oct 2007

Pregnancy after breast cancer is possible

Once Alyssa Tushman knew her young son would not grow up motherless, her next question was whether he would be an only child.

2 Oct 2007

Low maternal cholesterol levels may lead to adverse birth outcomes

Pregnant women who have very low cholesterol may face a greater risk of delivering their babies prematurely than women with more moderate cholesterol levels, a team led by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), reported today.

2 Oct 2007