News & Updates

On April 8, 2019, join community organizations and healthcare professionals to discuss strategies for reducing the rising rate of maternal deaths in the United States.

Nutrition is vital to health, growth, and development through all stages of life. Poor nutrition causes health problems and can contribute to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and other diseases. NIH recently released a draft of its first-ever Strategic Plan for NIH Nutrition Research to focus efforts in advancing the scientific understanding of interactions between diet, nutritional status, biological processes, and the environment.

Health experts recommend the seasonal flu shot for pregnant women.

As 2018 winds down, a new slideshow highlights a selection of initiatives, therapies, and scientific advances supported by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

In 2018, researchers funded by NICHD made significant progress in advancing the health and well-being of infants, children, teenagers, and adults across the United States and around the world.

Maternal adipokines—molecules produced by fat cells—influence fetal growth and newborn length, birthweight, and proportion of body fat.

The initiative seeks to improve treatment and care of infants and children who were exposed to opioids in the womb.

Dr. Enrique Schisterman, Chief of the Epidemiology Branch shares his personal struggle with infertility, which led him to dedicate a research career focusing on ways to help couples boost fertility.

Insufficient sodium or manganese increases risk, NIH study suggests

Elevated blood pressure before conception may increase the chances for pregnancy loss, according to an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The authors conclude that lifestyle changes to keep blood pressure under control could potentially reduce the risk of loss. The study appears in Hypertension.

Experts convened for an NICHD workshop identified research gaps and opportunities to improve outcomes for women affected by opioid use disorder, their newborn infants and their families.

PregSource is a research project led by NICHD that aims to improve knowledge of pregnancy by collecting information directly from pregnant women.

Dr. Diana W. Bianchi is recognized with the March of Dimes Colonel Harland Sanders Lifetime Achievement Award for significant contributions toward the prevention or treatment of birth defects and other genetic disorders.

Infants whose mothers smoked cigarettes throughout pregnancy had higher levels of an inflammation marker called interleukin-8 at birth, according to an NICHD study.

NICHD had a very productive year in 2016. Staff responded quickly to Zika virus and led the effort to develop the NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation. The following snapshots are examples of the many advances made possible by NICHD this year.

NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi shares some thoughts about joining NICHD.

Federal agencies concerned with infant health and welfare today announced their support of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated recommendations on safe infant sleep.

Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health will monitor potential Zika virus exposure among a subset of athletes, coaches and other U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) staff attending the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Brazil.

​The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz (Fiocruz) begin a multi-country study to evaluate the magnitude of health risks that Zika virus infection poses to pregnant women and their developing fetuses and infants.