A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health contradicts the current recommendation that women with obesity should lose weight before trying to conceive. The study of more than 300 women with obesity found no difference in the proportion of live births among women with unexplained infertility who lost weight before infertility treatment and a similar group who did not lose weight before treatment.
News
NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.
Release: COVID-19 vaccination does not reduce chances of conception, study suggests
COVID-19 vaccination does not affect the chances of conceiving a child, according to a study of more than 2,000 couples that was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers found no differences in the chances of conception if either male or female partner had been vaccinated, compared to unvaccinated couples. However, couples had a slightly lower chance of conception if the male partner had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 within 60 days before a menstrual cycle, suggesting that COVID-19 could temporarily reduce male fertility.
Spotlight: Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2021
Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2021.
Director's Corner: Celebrating NICHD’s 60th Anniversary
As we ring in the new year, 2022 marks a special milestone—the 60th anniversary of NICHD.
Release: COVID-19 vaccination associated with a small, temporary increase in menstrual cycle length, suggests NIH-funded study
Women receiving one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine during a single menstrual cycle had an increase in cycle length of nearly one day, according to an NIH-funded study.
Release: NIH study suggests women with disabilities have higher risk of birth complications and death
Pregnant women with disabilities have a much higher risk for severe pregnancy- and birth-related complications and death than other pregnant women, according to findings by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. Appearing in JAMA Network Open, the analysis of more than 223,000 deliveries in 19 U.S. hospitals found that roughly 2,199 women had a disability.
Item of Interest: PregSource® Mobile App Allows Access from Anywhere
It just got easier to participate in the PregSource®: Crowdsourcing to Understand Pregnancy research project. The free app allows participants to track their weight, sleep, mood, and other features of their pregnancy in just a few taps.
Release: NIH announces winners of data challenge to identify risk factors for first-time pregnancies
Awarded projects seek to reduce pregnancy complications and prevent maternal deaths.
Item of Interest: Una Grewal Appointed Director of the Division of Population Health Research
Dr. Grewal has been acting director of the division since February 2020.
Science Update: NIH scientists design a potential non-hormonal contraceptive for men
Mouse studies targeting gonadotropin regulated testicular helicase (GRTH) appear to be a promising approach.
Media Advisory: NIH to study long-term effects of COVID-19 in pregnancy
The National Institutes of Health will support a four-year follow-up study on the potential long-term effects of COVID-19 on women infected with SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy. The study will also follow their offspring for any potential long-term effects.
Director's Corner: Reflecting on Our Commitment to Nutrition Research
As we usher in November and Thanksgiving, it’s a fitting time to reflect on NICHD’s commitment to research on nutrition.
Media Advisory: NIH researchers link depression during pregnancy to placental gene modifications
Episodes of maternal stress or depression during pregnancy are associated with chemical modifications to placental genes, according to a study by researchers from the National Institutes of Health. The modifications involve DNA methylation—binding of compounds known as methyl groups to DNA—which can alter a gene’s activity. Some of the methylation changes associated with maternal depression occurred near genes involved in brain development, suggesting that maternal depression in pregnancy could have long-term implications for the mental development of the child.
Item of Interest: NICHD website seeks to foster contraceptive and infertility research
A new website offers reproductive health researchers a way to search for genes, proteins, and other molecules that could provide the basis for studies to develop new contraceptive methods and infertility treatments. The Contraceptive Infertility Target Database (CITDBase) is a free public resource developed by the Contraceptive Development Program in the NICHD’s Division of Population Health Research.
Science Update: No serious adverse events from COVID-19 vaccine in breastfeeding women or their children, NIH-funded study suggests
No serious adverse events were reported by 180 breastfeeding women receiving either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, either among themselves or in their infants, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. For the mothers, adverse events included muscle and body aches, fever and vomiting, pain, redness, swelling, or itching at the injection site.
Spotlight: Developing Mobile Health Solutions for Women in Guatemala
NIH-supported program reduces maternal deaths, complications in rural Guatemalan communities.
Release: NIH-funded study highlights stark racial disparities in maternal deaths
Racial and ethnic disparities in maternal mortality in the United States may be larger than previously reported, suggests an NICHD-funded study.
Release: NIH-funded study identifies benefits, risks of treatments for pregnancy of unknown location
Preemptive treatment for a nonviable pregnancy of unknown location resolves the condition more rapidly than treating symptoms as they arise, suggests an NICHD-supported study. However, both treatment approaches convey similar risks of adverse events.
Science Update: Lab-grown placental stem cells may yield insights into preeclampsia, NIH-funded study suggests
Preeclampsia—a life-threatening hypertensive disorder of pregnancy—may begin with a failure of the outermost cells of the early placenta to sufficiently invade the uterine wall, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers generated these outermost cells—known as trophoblasts—from stem cells taken from placentas of women who had preeclampsia during pregnancy.
Science Update: Fibroid risk associated with ancestry among Black and white women, NIH-funded study suggests
Among American Black and white women, the risk and extent of fibroids—benign tumors of the uterus—are associated with ancestry to distinct regions and populations, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study provides information that may lead to insights on the origins and treatments for these common tumors.