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.
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 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.
Science Update: Analyzing birth stories may predict risk for childbirth-related PTSD
Computational analysis of the word usage in personal stories of recent birthing experiences can identify women likely to develop PTSD related to childbirth, suggests an NIH-funded study. The findings may aid development of a low-cost screening tool to help diagnose and treat childbirth-related PTSD.
Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2022
Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2022.
Media Advisory: NIH-funded researchers to begin study of intravenous iron treatment for post-pregnancy anemia
Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health are launching a large study to evaluate a single dose of intravenous iron to treat women experiencing anemia
after giving birth. The study will enroll nearly 5,000 women in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Zambia and Guatemala.
Media Advisory: No increase in risk of serious pregnancy complications during early pandemic, NIH-funded study suggests
Compared to giving birth in 2019, giving birth in 2020 during the early stages of the pandemic was not associated with a higher risk of maternal death or a serious complication of pregnancy, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Science Update: Pregnancy-associated homicides on the rise in the United States, suggests NICHD-funded study
U.S. rates of pregnancy-associated homicide—deaths that occur among women who are pregnant or had been pregnant within one year—rose in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent NICHD-funded study.
Director's Corner: Crowdsourcing to Advance Maternal Health Research
Challenge competitions offer a mechanism to quickly bring in diverse voices and expertise to innovate and problem-solve. This month, NICHD and partners launched two challenges focused on improving our nation’s maternal health: the RADx® Tech for Maternal Health Challenge and the Connecting the Community for
Maternal Health Challenge.
Release: NIH launches $8 million prize competition to reduce maternal deaths in regions that lack maternity care
The National Institutes of Health is offering up to $8 million in cash prizes to accelerate development of technologies to improve maternal health outcomes for those who live in areas lacking access to maternity care.
Release: NIH launches challenge to advance community-based maternal health research
The National Institutes of Health has launched a $3 million challenge 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: NIH to establish Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence
NIH recently released three funding opportunity announcements inviting applications for the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence initiative, which will develop and evaluate innovative approaches to reduce pregnancy-related complications and deaths and promote maternal health equity.
Spotlight: Decoded: Data-Driven Solutions to Optimize Health and Outcomes for First-time Mothers
To help spur innovation against a growing maternal health crisis, NICHD launched the Decoding Maternal Morbidity Data Challenge last year. Learn about the winning proposals.