Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Midwife researcher challenges maternity care in Australia

A Central Queensland University postgraduate has suggested maternity care in Australia needs an overhaul to meet the needs of today's midwives and expecting parents.

19 Oct 2004

Air fresheners and aerosols can make babies and their mothers ill

The researchers found that frequent use of air fresheners and aerosols during pregnancy and early childhood was associated with higher levels of diarrhoea, earache and other symptoms in infants, as well as headaches and depression in mothers.

19 Oct 2004

Sister study that examines causes of breast cancer opens

A new study that will look at 50,000 sisters of women diagnosed with breast cancer opened today for enrollment across the United States. The Sister Study, conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), will investigate environmental and genetic causes of breast cancer.

18 Oct 2004

A study to help women decide how to give birth

A study to help women decide how to give birth has started in Bristol and Weston. Known as the DiAMOND study (Decision Aids for Mode Of Next Delivery), it is being run jointly by the Universities of Bristol and Dundee.

18 Oct 2004

Race may play a role in the success of their infertility treatment

Research presented today at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) indicated that a patient’s race may play a role in the success of their infertility treatment.

18 Oct 2004

Presentation of the most recent and advanced work in the rapidly progressing field of fertility preservation

Each year approximately 50,000 women under the age of 40 are diagnosed with breast cancer. Treatments vary but most involve the administration of chemotherapeutic agents or radiation which can disrupt ovarian function or damage a patient’s eggs.

18 Oct 2004

Mothers must breastfeed for at least four months without using formula to reduce obesity risk in preschool children

Pediatric obesity researchers from Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh have found that for breastfeeding to reduce the risk of obesity in preschool children, mothers must breastfeed for at least four months without using formula or for at least six months if they are also formula feeding.

13 Oct 2004

Myths and facts about weight loss and liposuction

For many Americans, weight loss can seem like a lost cause, especially when diet and exercise fall short of helping them achieve their ideal physique.

13 Oct 2004

Anti-epilepsy drug sodium valproate is associated with developmental delay and lower IQ

Around five in every 1000 people will have epilepsy. One in three people with epilepsy is a woman of childbearing age, and one in every 200 women attending antenatal clinics is being treated with anti-epileptic drugs.

13 Oct 2004

Greater risk for children of mothers over 40 to die in the womb or as a newborn

Women who give birth after 40 run a greater risk of experiencing pregnancy complications than younger women. Moreover, there is an increased risk of the child dying in the womb or in close connection with delivery.

13 Oct 2004

Study examines fertility concerns among young women with breast cancer

A new study shows that concern about infertility resulting from breast cancer therapy influenced treatment decisions in nearly one-third of young patients.

12 Oct 2004

New study on disparities in maternal and infant health

Eliminating health disparities between different racial/ethnic subgroups is a national priority. Even at the earliest stages of pregnancy, disparities in health are evident.

12 Oct 2004

Lifestyle factors that increase the risk of heart disease in adults begin to take hold in childhood

In one study, Boston researchers found that about two-thirds of 1,960 adolescents studied had at least one risk factor for heart disease, and almost 10 percent had a cluster of factors known as metabolic syndrome.

11 Oct 2004

Balanced diet reduces the risk of a baby with spina bifida

According to Dutch researcher Pascal Groenen, a balanced diet reduces the risk of a baby with spina bifida. He investigated how different nutritional components affected the risk of developing this condition.

11 Oct 2004

Genetic link to Preeclampsia, a serious complication of pregnancy

When a particular combination of proteins is expressed by a mother and her developing fetus, the risk of developing preeclampsia increases, according to a study by Hiby and colleagues in the Oct 18 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

11 Oct 2004

Black women are three times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy

Black women are three times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy, and twice as many black babies as white babies die in infancy. Yet researchers know little about why pregnancy and infant health differ by race, despite massive efforts to address this persistent problem.

10 Oct 2004

Repeated re-testing of women with a history of chlamydia is a cost-effective strategy for preserving reproductive health

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health assessed the cost-effectiveness and clinical benefits of currently existing guidelines and new, proposed guidelines for screening women for chlamydia.

8 Oct 2004

Discovery of the oldest remains of a woman who died in childbirth

In ancient times, female death rates were particularly high and generally related to problems in maternity, such as complications during pregnancy, childbirth or the period of breast-feeding.

6 Oct 2004

Eight out of ten women take some form of therapeutic drugs during pregnancy

The advice from the British National Formulary (British Medical Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain) is that all drugs should be avoided if possible during the first three months – and only prescribed at all if the benefits to the mother outweigh the risk to the foetus.

6 Oct 2004

Spitting into a cup could someday be an alternative to blood testing

Researchers have identified the largest number of proteins to date in human saliva, a preliminary finding that could pave the way for more diagnostic tests based on saliva samples. Such tests show promise as a faster, cheaper and potentially safer diagnostic method than blood sampling, they say.

5 Oct 2004