Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Pregnant U.S. women commonly smoke

While pregnancy may be considered an effective motivator for smoking cessation, results of a new study by researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health indicate that pregnant U.S. women commonly smoke, placing themselves and their unborn children at risk for health and developmental complications.

25 Apr 2007

Neither induced abortion nor miscarriage associated with breast cancer risk in premenopausal women

Neither induced abortion nor spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) appears to be associated with breast cancer risk in premenopausal women, according to a report in the April 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

24 Apr 2007

Non-coplanar PCBs and related chemicals warrant serious attention for health reasons

Scientists have determined that a specific class of PCB causes significant developmental abnormalities in rat pups whose mothers were exposed to the toxicant in their food during pregnancy and during the early weeks when the pups were nursing.

24 Apr 2007

Abortions do not increase risk for breast cancer

A new study by researchers at Harvard supports earlier findings by a panel of experts that abortions and miscarriages do not increase a woman's risk of getting breast cancer.

23 Apr 2007

Emergency contraception does not reduce unintended pregnancy rate

The morning after pill, may be a good option for individual women in crisis, but advance access to emergency contraception is no antidote for the national problem of unintended pregnancy.

19 Apr 2007

Obese women 3.5 times more likely to require a Caesarean

Liverpool scientists have uncovered the reason why overweight women have more Caesarean sections; they are at significant risk of their uterus contracting poorly in childbirth.

19 Apr 2007

Providing emergency contraception before it is needed does not reduce pregnancy rates

Women who have unprotected sexual intercourse or experience contraceptive failure can seek emergency contraception to reduce their chance of unintended pregnancy.

19 Apr 2007

Immune system disorder may be the cause of unexplained infertility

It's been a topic on Sex and the City and was rumored to be a problem for a popular sitcom star when she and her husband were trying to conceive.

18 Apr 2007

Vaccination week in the Americas

The countries of the Americas are preparing a huge promotional effort for the fifth year of Vaccination Week in the Americas, which this year aims to immunize some 55 million persons.

18 Apr 2007

UK doctors shy away from performing abortions

Experts in the UK are warning of an impending crisis in the National Health Service (NHS) regarding abortions. They say many doctors are opting out of providing such a service.

18 Apr 2007

Breastfeeding reduces risk of invasive breast cancer

Breastfeeding can offset the increased risk of invasive breast cancer for women who had their first full-term pregnancy after the age of 25, a study led by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) suggests.

17 Apr 2007

Bristol-Myers Squibb announces new results of Baraclude (entecavir) resistance monitoring program

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company has announced new results of the Baraclude (entecavir) resistance monitoring program, which found a continued low incidence of resistance in studies of nucleoside-naive chronic hepatitis B patients through four years of treatment.

16 Apr 2007

For teens - abstinence-only sex education programs...a waste of money!

It has taken a U.S. government report to confirm what experts in sexual behaviour have repeatedly warned about in recent years regarding teenage sex....abstinence just doesn't work.

16 Apr 2007

New perspectives on risk taking in adolescence

While the government spends billions of dollars on educational and prevention programs to persuade teens not to do things like smoke, drink or do drugs, a Temple University psychologist suggests that competing systems within the brain make adolescents more susceptible to engaging in risky or dangerous behavior, and that educational interventions alone are unlikely to be effective.

15 Apr 2007

Aftermath of suicide attempts - helping families cope

When a child attempts suicide, these emotions hit families like a Mack truck. Some family members bury their feelings deep inside and refuse to accept the stark reality.

15 Apr 2007

Full impact of mental health and substance abuse disorders on U.S. community hospitals

Almost one-fourth of all stays in U.S. community hospitals for patients age 18 and older – 7.6 million of nearly 32 million stays – involved depressive, bipolar, schizophrenia and other mental health disorders or substance use related disorders in 2004, according to a new report by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

11 Apr 2007

Smoking may influence sex of unborn babe

A study by British pediatricians suggests that smoking cigarettes can influence the gender of an unborn baby.

11 Apr 2007

Malaria in pregnancy

Most malaria deaths worldwide are in children under 5 years old and pregnant women.

10 Apr 2007

FDA warns consumers on health risks of keeping pet turtles

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is urgently reminding the public that contact with baby turtles can pose a serious health risk to infants, small children, and adults with impaired immune systems as they can be natural hosts to Salmonella, a group of bacteria that can cause severe illness and death.

8 Apr 2007

Stress affects levels of serum cytokines across pregnancy

A new study shows that women who report high levels of stress and low social support during pregnancy are more likely to have increased immune system activity, which can trigger inflammatory responses and put them at risk for premature labor and preeclampsia.

7 Apr 2007