Pregnancy :: New placenta screening for high-risk pregnancies
For the first time ever, a team of Toronto researchers are using a combination of ultrasound and blood tests to screen high-risk pregnant mothers for placental damage.
Gestation
Preterm Birth :: Improving outcomes in premature births
The costs due to complications from preterm birth are staggering. In Canada, outlays for specialized care of surviving preterm infants are estimated to be almost $2 billion per year.
Infant :: Prenatal exposure to glucocorticoids has long-term deleterious effects on newborns
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom have found that, as for rodents and other nonprimates, prenatal exposure of nonhuman primate African vervet monkeys (Chloroceus aethiops) to glucocorticoids has long-lasting deleterious effects on cardiovascular, metabolic, and neuroendocrine function.
Diabetes :: Causes of diabetic birth defects identified
Joslin researchers discover a surprising culprit in the search for causes of diabetic birth defects. protein makes it possible for high blood glucose to enter embryonic cells.
Smoking :: Pregnant smokers raise their child’s risk of stroke, heart attack
Women who smoke during pregnancy can cause permanent vascular damage in their children ? increasing their risk for stroke and heart attack, researchers said at the American Heart Association?s 47th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.
Birth :: Risk of birth complications varies between racial groups
Babies born to South Asian women are at a higher risk of perinatal mortality (death before, during or shortly after birth) than babies born to black or white women, concludes a study published online by the BMJ today.
Pregnancy :: Study sheds light on risks of being a second twin
A nine year study published on bmj.com today has concluded that being a second born twin confers a small increased risk of suffering fatal complications during birth.
Depression :: Stress-related adult disease may originate in fetal development
According to a review in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, evidence is mounting that lifelong stress-related conditions such as depression and chronic pain may be linked to fetal growth and timing of delivery.
Pregnancy :: Universities in San Antonio and Hawaii study safety of assisted reproductive technologies
Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and the University of Hawaii have found that assisted reproductive technologies do not increase the risk of genetic mutations in developing fetuses.
Stillbirth :: Decline in stillbirths, racial disparities persist
The rate of fetal deaths, also known as stillbirths, occurring at 20 weeks of gestation or more declined substantially between 1990 and 2003, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).