Group seeks to enhance testing of therapeutics used by pregnant women and nursing mothers.
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.
Podcast: Research on Maternal Deaths and Childbirth Complications
Each year in the United States, 700 women die from pregnancy or childbirth complications – one of the highest maternal death rates in the developed world. Listen to Milestones interview with Dr. Juanita Chinn from NICHD’s Population Dynamics Branch.
Science Update: Emergency cesarean delivery may increase child’s risk for asthma, food allergy, NICHD-funded study suggests
Birth by emergency cesarean delivery is associated with a higher risk for wheezing (a possible indication of asthma) and food allergy, suggests an analysis funded by the NICHD. Children who were breast fed after cesarean delivery did not have an indication of higher asthma risk but did have an elevated risk for food allergy.
Media Advisory: NIH to Host Community Engagement Forum on Improving Maternal Health
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.
Media Advisory: NIH-led task force on pregnancy and lactation receives two-year renewal
Secretary of Health and Human Services renews task force for an additional two years. Task force members will offer guidance and advice on implementing 15 recommendations they submitted in September 2018.
Media Advisory: Lower costs associated with late-preterm steroid therapy, NIH-funded analysis finds
An analysis of a previous study has found more evidence to support giving the steroid betamethasone to pregnant women at risk of late-preterm delivery (between 34 and 36 weeks of gestation), according to a network funded by the National Institutes of Health. Hospital stays for infants whose mothers received the drug cost less on average, compared to stays for infants whose mothers did not take the drug.
Media Advisory: Rate of life-threatening childbirth complications increasing sharply across U.S. racial, ethnic groups
Racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity—life-threatening maternal complications associated with childbirth—have persisted and increased at high rates among U.S. women, according to an analysis of nearly 20 years of California hospital records funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Media Advisory: NICHD chronicles its major research advances of 2018
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).
Spotlight: Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2018
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.
Media Advisory: Pelvic floor disorders linked to mode of delivery among first-time mothers
A first-time mother’s risk of pelvic floor disorders is strongly associated with how her baby is delivered, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Pelvic floor disorders are thought to result from weakening or injury of the muscles, ligaments and connective tissue in the lowest part of the pelvis.
Science Update: Short interval between pregnancies may increase health risks for mothers and infants
Compared to younger mothers, mothers over 35 are at higher risk of death and serious illness if they conceive 6 months or less after the birth of a previous child, according to a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. For mothers of all ages, such short intervals between pregnancies were associated with higher risk for preterm birth and for having infants small for their gestation age.
Release: Delayed pushing appears to have no effect on chances for spontaneous vaginal delivery
Delaying pushing during the second stage of labor—when the cervix is fully dilated at 10 centimeters—is a common practice at many U.S. hospitals, but it may have no effect on whether pregnant women deliver spontaneously (without a cesarean section or other intervention), according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Release: NIH led task force submits recommendations on research needs for pregnant and nursing mothers
NIH led task force submits recommendations on research needs for pregnant and nursing mothers
Release: Induced labor at 39 weeks may reduce likelihood of C-section, NIH study suggests
Healthy first-time mothers whose labor was induced in the 39th week of pregnancy were less likely to deliver by cesarean section, compared to those who waited for labor to begin naturally, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Release: More than one day of early-pregnancy bleeding linked to lower birthweight
Women who experience vaginal bleeding for more than one day during the first trimester of pregnancy may be more likely to have a smaller baby, compared to women who do not experience bleeding in the first trimester, suggest researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
Release: Diuretic therapy for extremely preterm infants does not alleviate respiratory problems
Extremely premature infants who received diuretic therapy to help overcome respiratory problems were more likely to require respiratory support, according to an NIH analysis.
Media Advisory: Induced labor after 39 weeks in healthy women may reduce need for C section
Healthy first-time mothers whose labor was induced in the 39th week of pregnancy were less likely to have a cesarean delivery, compared to a similar group who were not electively induced at 39 weeks, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Spotlight: Zika Research after Hurricane Maria
Dr. Carmen Zorrilla, who leads NICHD’s Zika in Infants and Pregnancy (ZIP) study in Puerto Rico, reports on how Hurricane Maria affected the Island’s largest hospital in San Juan.
Media Advisory: Air pollution exposure in early pregnancy linked to miscarriage, NIH study suggests
Exposure to common air pollutants, such as ozone and fine particles, may increase the risk of early pregnancy loss, according to an NIH study.
News Release: Obesity during pregnancy may lead directly to fetal overgrowth, NIH study suggests
Obesity during pregnancy—independent of its health consequences such as diabetes—may account for the higher risk of giving birth to an atypically large infant.