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A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique administered as early as the 14th week of pregnancy may predict the chances of impaired fetal growth. The technique measures the ability of the placenta to supply blood to the fetus. It appears to allow earlier diagnosis than the standard technique, ultrasound of the placenta, which can diagnose reductions in maternal blood flow to the placenta at 20 to 24 weeks. Earlier detection of fetal growth restriction and those at risk for being small for their gestational age at birth may lead to strategies for treating these conditions.

NIH-funded technique enables automatic detection of placental compartments, oxygen status and structural abnormalities.

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.

The increase in pregnancy complications linked to air pollution exposure could result from the pollutants’ direct effects on the placenta, suggests a study in mice funded by the National Institutes of Health. Placentas of mice exposed to a mixture of common urban air pollutants before and during pregnancy were inflamed and had a loss of blood vessel cells. The study authors say the findings could provide insight into how air pollution might affect pregnancies and lead to strategies for preventing pregnancy complications.

The placenta supports pregnancy and influences the lifelong health of both mother and child. Yet it is the least understood, and least studied, of all human organs. In a guest post for the NIH Director’s Blog, Dr. Bianchi discusses work from NICHD’s Human Placenta Project to understand how the placenta functions in real time during pregnancy.

It just got easier to participate in the PregSource®: Crowdsourcing to Understand Pregnancy research project. The free app allows participants to track their weight, sleep, mood, and other features of their pregnancy in just a few taps.

Awarded projects seek to reduce pregnancy complications and prevent maternal deaths.

Dr. Grewal has been acting director of the division since February 2020.

NIH-supported program reduces maternal deaths, complications in rural Guatemalan communities.

Racial and ethnic disparities in maternal mortality in the United States may be larger than previously reported, suggests an NICHD-funded study.

The National Institutes of Health will award up to $400,000 to individuals or groups who design an effective method for analyzing a large data set of first-time pregnancies and identifying risk factors for adverse outcomes, such as hypertensive disorders, diabetes and infection. A total of $50,000 will be awarded to each of seven winners designing the most effective means to analyze the data. An additional $10,000 will be awarded to the top five winners whose methods identify risk factors in disadvantaged populations.

NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi is joined by NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health Director Dr. Janine Clayton in assessing the growing maternal health crisis in the United States and describing NIH’s efforts to address it.

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

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2020.

National Institutes of Health study suggests women with mood disorders, gestatational diabetes may have a higher risk.

Traces of genetic material from the placenta and other organs circulating in a pregnant woman’s blood stream could potentially be used to predict the risk for complications in later pregnancy, according to a new NICHD-supported study.

A mouse study funded by the National Institutes of Health suggests that a step in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure could account for the higher rate of complications in pregnancies resulting from this form of assisted reproductive technology (ART). The researchers linked the culture of embryos in laboratory dishes after fertilization with impaired growth of the placenta, smaller fetal size, and a higher risk of preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy-related blood pressure disorder.

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.