News

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has announced funding for research collaborations in its Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research. The network, which is re-competed every seven years, consists of United States-based research centers and their counterparts in low- and lower middle-income countries. The Global Network began in 2001 and is dedicated to improving maternal and child health outcomes worldwide and building health research capacity in resource-poor settings.

A new guide developed by NICHD and its partners promises to standardize the exchange of clinical data on maternal and infant health. The guide is an important step toward establishing a common framework to help clinicians and scientists better understand the root causes and high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has announced new funding for participating centers in its Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has announced new funding for participating centers in its Neonatal Research Network (NRN). The purpose of the NRN is to improve healthcare and outcomes for newborns.

The survival rate of extremely preterm infants born from 2013 through 2018 in a large network of U.S. research centers improved to 78.3%, compared to 76% for infants born in the network from 2008 to 2012, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

An antibody treatment in early pregnancy for women infected with cytomegalovirus does not appear to reduce the risk of infection or death among their newborns, an NIH-funded study suggests. The findings contradict several smaller studies on the treatment, known as hyperimmune globulin, that suggested the treatment was effective.

The National Institutes of Health and the District of Columbia government are teaming up to raise awareness among District parents and caregivers about how to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome and other sleep-related causes of infant death, such as accidental suffocation.

Pregnant people need to be protected through research rather than from research, the authors contend.

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines offer the potential to halt the spread of the virus. Yet, we know very little about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines during pregnancy.

NIH-funded study suggests mother-to-infant transmission appears to be rare

Increased stress may interfere with adjustment to new motherhood, mother-infant bonding

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have used a rapid DNA sequencing technique to identify gene variants in roughly a third of cases of nonimmune Hydrops fetalis (NIHF), a serious condition in which a fetus develops fluid buildup inside the abdominal cavity, lungs, or other parts of the body. The findings suggest that the DNA sequencing technique, known as exome sequencing, could be used to provide information unavailable with current genetic testing methods.

A National Institutes of Health study in mice suggests that parents have an innate capacity to respond to an infant’s cries for help and this capacity may serve as a foundation from which a parent learns to adjust to an infant’s changing needs.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions have discovered another set of pore-like holes, or channels, traversing the membrane-bound sac that encloses the deadliest malaria parasite as it infects red blood cells. The channels enable the transport of lipids—fat-like molecules—between the blood cell and parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. The parasite draws lipids from the cell to sustain its growth and may also secrete other types of lipids to hijack cell functions to meet its needs.

Compared to other women, deaf and hard of hearing women have a higher risk for pregnancy and birth complications such as gestational diabetes and blood pressure disorders, according to a study funded by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Moreover, infants of deaf and hard of hearing women were more likely to be born preterm, have low birth weight, and receive a low Apgar score—a screening test used to determine the baby’s need for additional medical services.

Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will assess whether a single oral dose of the antibiotic azithromycin during labor reduces the risk of maternal and infant bacterial infection and death in seven low- and middle-income countries.

Researchers to evaluate medical records of 21,000 pregnant women

Program will include lessons learned from caring for pregnant women with COVID-19.

Teens with a learner’s permit who had regular, behind-the-wheel practice sessions had a lower crash risk in the year after they obtained their driver’s license, compared to teens who practiced less frequently, according to a study by researchers at the NICHD and other institutions.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have discovered in mice what they believe is the first known genetic mutation to improve cognitive flexibility—the ability to adapt to changing situations.