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News & Updates

NICHD issues Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Science Updates and Spotlights explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement such as an initiative launch or a notable staff change. Director’s Corner posts are monthly updates from the NICHD director.

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Federal Interagency Forum on Child & Family Statistics

The federal government issued its second annual report today on the well-being of America's 70 million children, revealing some good news about their overall health and educational achievements.

C-Sections Before Labor & Rupture of Membranes Reduce the Risk of Maternal-Infant HIV Transmission by Half

The largest, most comprehensive analysis of its kind has found pregnant women infected with HIV can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their infants by about 50 percent if they deliver by elective cesarean section--before they have gone into labor and before their membranes have ruptured, according to a study led by a researcher at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Study Questions Common Practice of Steroid Administration to Induce Lung Development in Premature Infants

A new study conducted by researchers in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network suggests that the steroid dexamethasone, which is commonly prescribed to help premature infants get off mechanical ventilators, may have serious side effects.

New Treatment for Lung Problems in Premature Infants Ineffective, NICHD Study Finds

A new study has demonstrated that a potential new therapy, thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), given in combination with the steroid hormone glucocorticoid to mothers who were threatening to deliver a very preterm infant, was no more effective in improving their newborn infants' outcome than glucocorticoid treatment alone.