Understanding and addressing a wide range of women’s gynecological and reproductive health issues are priorities for NICHD. Through research, the institute seeks to support and optimize the health of women throughout their lives.
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: NIH announces winners of prize competition to improve postpartum maternal health and health equity through innovative diagnostics
Eight winning teams developed home-based and point-of-care diagnostics, wearables and other accessible technologies to
improve postpartum health outcomes in regions that have limited access to maternity care.
Science Update: High levels of certain forever chemicals during pregnancy linked to mid-life obesity, NIH-funded study suggests
High levels of some forever chemicals in pregnancy could lead to midlife obesity, a study suggests.
Item of Interest: NIH announces final winners of the Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge
NIH announced the final winners of a 2-year prize competition that encouraged community-based organizations to develop the infrastructure and capabilities to conduct maternal health research.
Item of Interest: NIH funds two additional Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence
NIH awarded two new grants to expand its Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. These institutions design and implement research projects seeking to reduce pregnancy-related complications and deaths and promote maternal health equity in the United States.
Item of Interest: NICHD Leads Summer Workshops on Women’s Health
NICHD is co-hosting several workshops and virtual meetings on women’s health topics in summer 2024. Please consider registering to participate in discussions and to help shape future research and care.
Spotlight: Scientific Advances from the Division of Intramural Research
The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living
systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.
Science Update: NIH-funded study suggests best ways to screen for sepsis during and after pregnancy
Sepsis screening tools designed to account for the physiological changes that may occur during pregnancy perform best from 20 weeks of pregnancy through 3 days postpartum, research suggests. In early pregnancy and later in the postpartum period, tools based on general sepsis screening criteria may more accurately predict which patients are at high risk for maternal sepsis, a leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths.
Director's Corner: Reflecting on a Productive 2023
In 2023, NICHD continued its commitment to research to understand human development, improve reproductive health, promote women’s health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all. Highlights include steps toward reducing the global burden of maternal sepsis and establishing a standard treatment for opioid-exposed newborns.
Spotlight: Looking Back on NICHD in 2023
As we ring in 2024, we’d like to take a brief look back on our accomplishments during 2023. These activities illustrate the institute’s continued commitment to research and training in its mission areas.
Item of Interest: NICHD renews funding for its Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research
NICHD announced a new cycle of 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, includes U.S.-based research centers and counterparts in low- and lower middle-income countries. The Global Network has been improving maternal and child health outcomes worldwide and building health research capacity in resource-poor settings since 2001.
Release: NIH establishes Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence
NIH has awarded $24 million in first-year funding to establish Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. The centers will develop and evaluate innovative approaches to reduce pregnancy-related complications and deaths and promote maternal health equity.
Science Update: Prenatal depression may increase risk of cardiovascular disease after birth, NICHD-funded study suggests
Depression from six weeks gestation through the end of pregnancy may increase the risk of heart and blood vessel disease up to two years after birth, suggests an analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Item of Interest: NICHD-Developed Guide Sets Framework to Link Maternal, Infant Health Data
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.
Item of Interest: NIH selects next round of winners in the Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge
NIH has announced the next round of winners of its Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge—a $3 million prize competition to encourage community-based and advocacy organizations in the United States to develop the infrastructure and capabilities necessary to conduct maternal health research.
Item of Interest: New policies needed for maternal health care among incarcerated people with COVID-19, according to NICHD-funded researchers
The health of pregnant individuals and new mothers in the nation’s prisons should be prioritized to avoid future public health crises from COVID-19, according to an analysis by NICHD-funded investigators. Recommended policy changes include early release, when possible, because pregnant people are at high risk from COVID-19, and prisons are not well-equipped to provide the necessary medical care. Moreover, prisons should promote COVID-19 vaccination and develop targeted messages for this population to counteract vaccine misinformation.
Item of Interest: NICHD announces awards for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network
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.
Director's Corner: Addressing Inequities to IMPROVE Maternal Health for All
Black people are about three times as likely as White people to die from a pregnancy-related cause, regardless of income or education level. The NIH-wide IMPROVE initiative works to reduce preventable pregnancy-related deaths and complications and promote health equity.
Item of Interest: NIH selects next round of winners in the RADx® Tech for Maternal Health Challenge
The National Institutes of Health announced the next round of winners of its RADx® Tech for Maternal Health Challenge—an $8 million prize competition to accelerate development of technologies to improve maternal health outcomes.
Release: Single-dose antibiotic prevents maternal sepsis and death
A single oral dose of the antibiotic azithromycin can reduce the risk of postpartum sepsis and death among women who deliver vaginally by one-third, according to a large multi-country clinical trial funded by NICHD.