With its rolling green hills, rural Duplin County, North Carolina, couldn’t be more different from urban Queens, New York, an ethnically and racially diverse county in the United States.
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.
Earlier Jaundice Treatment Decreases Brain Injury In Preemies
A study from a National Institutes of Health research network found that an early treatment to prevent severe newborn jaundice in extremely early preterm infants reduced the infants' rate of brain injury, a serious complication of severe jaundice.
The National Institutes of Health and Jackson Medical Mall Launch Informative Health Series for Mississippians
The NIH/Jackson Medical Mall health information series will provide residents of the Jackson, Miss., area with informational presentations on diabetes, stroke/hypertension, asthma, and mental health. The health series will also include quarterly continuing medical education (CME) presentations for health care professionals.
Common Treatment to Delay Labor Decreases Preterm Infants' Risk for Cerebral Palsy
Preterm infants born to mothers receiving intravenous magnesium sulfate--a common treatment to delay labor--are less likely to develop cerebral palsy than are preterm infants whose mothers do not receive it, report researchers in a large National Institutes of Health research network.
Decades of Data
the late 1980s and early 1990s, changes in the workforce—specifically more women working outside the home—led many families to place their children in non-maternal child care. Policy and social debates were many—some claimed that children were harmed by such care, while others touted its benefits. While the battles raged, it became startlingly clear that little to no scientific research had been conducted on non-maternal child care. Without such data, there could be no real answers to the many questions related to non-maternal child care
Mothers' High Normal Blood Sugar Levels Place Infants at Risk for Birth Problems
Pregnant women with blood sugar levels in the higher range of normal--but not high enough to be considered diabetes--are more likely than women with lower blood sugar levels to give birth to babies at risk for many of the same problems seen in babies born to women with diabetes during pregnancy, according to a study funded in large part by the National Institutes of Health.
Intensive Training for Medical Staff in Latin American Hospitals Reduces Serious Complication of Pregnancy
An intensive educational program for physicians and midwives involving 19 hospitals in Argentina and Uruguay dramatically reduced the rate of postpartum hemorrhage, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
NIH Study Reveals Factors that Influence Premature Infant Survival, Disability
Based on observations of more than 4,000 infants, researchers in an NIH newborn research network have identified several factors that influence an extremely low birth weight infant's chances for survival and disability. The findings offer new information to physicians and families considering the most appropriate treatment options for this category of infants.
NIH Scientists Offer Explanation for Winter Flu Season
NIH Scientists Offer Explanation for Winter Flu Season Stability of Virus' Membrane at Cold Temperatures May Ease Winter Spread.
Tobacco Use, Secondhand Smoke Exposure during Pregnancy, May Threaten Health of Women & Children in Developing Nations
Findings from a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study indicate that rates of tobacco use during pregnancy, as well as exposure of pregnant women and their young children to secondhand smoke, are significant threats to health in several low and middle-income countries.
The Post-Exposure Prophylaxis of Infant (PEPI)-Malawi Study Sponsored by NICHD and CDC
Questions and Answers.
The Importance of Nurses
A Continuing Education Program on SIDS Risk Reduction: Curriculum for Nurses, a new curriculum from the NICHD that was created in collaboration with the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), First Candle, and nearly a dozen national organizations, aims to capitalize on the important role that nurses play by teaching them how to communicate information on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) with parents and families.
Focus on America's Children
In 2006, there were 73.7 million children from ages 0–17 in the United States, representing 25 percent of the population. Knowing the characteristics of this important segment is important not only for the country’s well-being today, but also for its vitality in the future.
NICHD Co-hosts Conference on Early Child Development Research
The NICHD, the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR), and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education are hosting a three-day conference about the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), from May 8-10, 2007.
Experimental Vaccine Given During Pregnancy Reduces Stillbirths from Common Virus
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that reduces stillbirths among rodents born to mothers infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV)--a common virus that can also cause mental retardation and hearing loss in newborn children who were infected in early fetal life.
Technology for Monitoring Fetal Oxygen During Labor Offers No Apparent Benefit
A new technology for measuring blood oxygen levels of a baby during labor--expected to provide information useful for preventing birth complications--offers no apparent benefit, report researchers in a National Institutes of Health research network.
SIDS Infants Show Abnormalities in Brain Area Controlling Breathing, Heart Rate Serotonin-Using Brain Cells Implicated in Abnormalities
Infants who die of sudden infant death syndrome have abnormalities in the brainstem, a part of the brain that helps control heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, temperature and arousal, report researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Backgrounder: Searching for Those at Greatest Risk for SIDS
The current study appears in the November 1 Journal of the American Medical Association provides additional evidence that brainstem abnormalities may impair an infant's ability to sense high carbon dioxide and low oxygen levels.
Focus on NICHD International Health Activities (Part 1)
The Institute’s mission to understand and improve the health of children, adults, and families reaches beyond the United States to include communities worldwide. As part of this mission, the NICHD and the Fogarty International Center are pleased to sponsor the 8th Annual Lawton Chiles International Lecture on Maternal and Child Health in the Americas.
Focus on NICHD International Health Activities (Part 2)
Research conducted through the Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research has found that the drug misoprostol provides a safe, convenient, and inexpensive means to prevent postpartum hemorrhage, a major killer of women in developing countries. This finding again highlights that the NICHD’s mission to understand and improve the health of children, adults, and families reaches beyond the United States to include communities worldwide.