Researchers conducted a comprehensive review of Chagas disease in Switzerland. Although typically found in Latin America, Chagas disease affects between 2,000 and 4,000 people in Switzerland. The review underscores the need for improved...
Researchers have studied placental genes to explore how Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) affects a child's development. Differences showed up between pregnancies from frozen and fresh embryo transfers in the placentas. Changes were...
Many women are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) at an age when they are considering starting a family. What does the disease and its medication mean for the child? To answer this question, a research team analyzed over 3,700...
A newly developed tool that harnesses computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) may help clinicians from around the globe rapidly evaluate placentas at birth, potentially improving neonatal and maternal care. Early identification...
In animal studies, boosting serotonin in the cells that line the gut reduced anxious and depressive-like behaviors without causing cognitive or gastrointestinal side effects.
Gut microbiome composition during pregnancy has long-term effects on offspring stem cell growth and development, researchers report. Treating pregnant mice with a common gut microbe resulted in offspring that had more active stem cells...
Engineers have developed a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) that delivers mRNA therapeutic to the placenta to treat pre-eclampsia in mice with human trials on the horizon.
A new analysis of more than 3,000 studies from around the world reveals that globally, flooding increases preterm births by about 3%. Children who were in utero during a flood event are also more likely to have a low birth weight. Both...
Higher incomes are often correlated with healthier pregnancies and babies, but is it really the money that matters? Sedimentary rocks that formed 390 million years ago, surprisingly, help provide the answer, at least for those who live...
Research revealed that foetuses are not as defenceless as once thought; they can actually fight infections from within the womb. This new understanding could significantly change the way doctors protect foetuses from infections that lead...
When women are pregnant and nurse their babies, their bodies change and various organs, such as the breasts or the immune system, are adapted to ensure the health of both mother and child. This happens throughout evolution in all...
Analysis of cheek swabs taken from pregnant women revealed a potential epigenetic biomarker for preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition that often leads to preterm births. While a clinical trial is needed to confirm the...
Researchers have identified Nr1h2, a critical transcription factor essential for early embryo development. Their findings enhance our understanding of gene regulation during blastoid formation and hold promise for regenerative medicine,...
Scientists have discovered that pregnancy may trigger a natural immunity to boost protection against severe flu infection. Contrary to the common belief that pregnancy increases vulnerability to infections, researchers found that it...
For pregnant women, exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) was associated with altered immune responses that can lead to adverse birth outcomes, according to a new study. The study is among the first to examine the...
Children of mothers who took certain anti-seizure medications while pregnant do not have worse neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 6, according to a long-running study.
New research has found that the number and type of microbes present in the saliva of pregnant women differ according to whether they are experiencing life stress and symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Women who suffer severe complications during their first pregnancy or delivery are less inclined to have more babies, a study reports. Given the recent steady decline in birth rate in Sweden, the researchers propose monitoring in...
A new study reveals a troubling rise in severe maternal health issues and birth complications in Illinois from 2016 to 2023, closely linked to increases in chronic health conditions affecting pregnancy, such as high blood pressure,...
Scientists have revealed how a specific hormone regulates ant caste differentiation by phenotypic measurements of organ-level developmental changes and matching transcriptome analyses.
New research reveals many prenatal vitamins don't contain enough of the nutrients that are essential for a healthy pregnancy, while others contain harmful levels of toxic metals. The study checked the amounts of choline and iodine in...
A new study analyzed data from participants who have been followed for over 50 years, starting before their births. Researchers found that maternal immune activity during a critical period of sex-dependent brain development in pregnancy...
A new study sheds light on a potential link between exposure to certain everyday chemicals during pregnancy and the development of asthma in children. The study analyzed data from over 3,500 mother-child pairs as part of the Japan...
A promising daily tablet is effective at increasing height and improving proportional limb growth in children with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, according to a new study. And the findings could spare these children...
Children born to mothers who take antiseizure medications to manage seizures and psychiatric conditions during pregnancy may face increased risks of neurodevelopmental conditions, according to new research.
Evidence has been growing to suggest that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, poses risks to the developing fetus by impacting brain development. Now a new preclinical research study finds that this...
A new study found that, among nearly 775,000 pregnant people in Massachusetts, 31 percent of these individuals had at least one unscheduled emergency visit to the hospital, and 3.3 percent had four or more unscheduled hospital visits....
For people who are pregnant or nursing, more use of personal care products is associated with higher detectable levels of synthetic chemicals known to have adverse health effects, a new study found. The study found that using personal...
Current guidelines recommend that pregnant people receive a vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) -- which typically causes mild, cold-like symptoms in most adults but can be deadly for infants -- during weeks 32-36 of...
Researchers have been unable to explain why after giving birth, Black patients are two to three times as likely to retain or gain additional weight compared to their white counterparts, even when pre-pregnancy weight and...
Clinics and hospitals currently defer medication abortion until ultrasound confirms a pregnancy inside the uterus. However, a large international study now indicates that treatment can be equally effective and safe even before the sixth...
The cost of childbirth and postpartum health care results in significant, ongoing financial hardship, particularly for lower-income families with commercial insurance. About half of people who give birth in the United States are covered...
Whether lying on their back, all-fours position, sitting upright or squatting -- women adopt different birthing positions during childbirth. What has not yet been researched is how the respective final birthing position affects the...
CBT for insomnia significantly reduces postpartum depression symptoms, directly and indirectly, by improving mood and alleviating insomnia throughout treatment.
Antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) are an established therapy for pregnant women at risk of preterm birth. Researchers have found that babies given ACS had notably smaller volumes of two key brain regions, the bilateral amygdalae and...
A new study, using responses from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health, has found that about 6 percent of pregnant women reported using marijuana during the last month, and many did not associate it with health risks.
As cannabis is legalized and is more accessible in various forms across the country, there is increasing concern among health care providers about potential impact on children. Researchers have new findings to add to the existing...
Drosophila is one of the most thoroughly studied lab animals -- with the exception of the female reproductive tract. Now a team of biologists has taken the first deep look at the Drosophila uterus and found some surprises, which could...
A new biomedical tool successfully delivers genetic material to edit faulty genes in developing fetal mouse brain cells. This might stop disease progression of genetic-based neurodevelopmental conditions before birth.
A new artificial intelligence-based system can accurately assess the chromosomal status of in vitro-fertilized (IVF) embryos using only time-lapse video images of the embryos and maternal age, according to a new study.
U.S. babies died at a higher rate in the months following the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health decision, and infant mortality was highest among those born with chromosomal or genetic abnormalities, new research has...