Improved data reporting among the factors critical to reducing life-threatening complications of pregnancy and childbirth
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.
Science Update: Air pollutants may increase risk of pregnancy-related blood pressure disorders, NIH study suggests
Exposure to high levels of certain common air pollutants in early pregnancy may increase the risk of pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, suggests an analysis by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In addition, exposure to a class of air pollutants known as volatile organic compounds in mid-pregnancy may increase the risk for preeclampsia, a potentially fatal disorder of pregnancy affecting blood pressure and kidney function.
Release: Elevated blood pressure in first trimester increases risk for blood pressure disorder later in pregnancy
Elevated blood pressure in the first trimester of pregnancy, or an increase in blood pressure between the first and second trimesters, raises the chances of a high blood pressure disorder of pregnancy, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Spotlight: NICHD Workshops Aim to Change Conversations About Maternal Health
Patient advocates, healthcare providers and researchers help map a future research agenda aimed at reducing maternal mortality and severe morbidity.
Spotlight: Maternal Health Research Advances
NICHD was established more than 50 years ago to help understand maternal health and improve pregnancy outcomes. These selected advances highlight NICHD’s contributions to advancing the health and well-being of pregnant women, mothers, and families everywhere.
Item of Interest: NIH-led Task Force on Pregnancy and Lactation to Host Webinar on May 22
Group seeks to enhance testing of therapeutics used by pregnant women and nursing mothers.
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.
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: Experimental treatment for preeclampsia effective in animals, NIH-funded researchers show
In studies of mice and nonhuman primates, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have used a technique known as RNA interference to reduce high levels of a protein that can cause preeclampsia, a potentially fatal high blood pressure disorder of pregnancy.
Release: NIH-funded researchers identify risk factors for sleep apnea during pregnancy
Snoring, older age and obesity may increase a pregnant woman’s risk for sleep apnea—or interrupted breathing during sleep—according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Getting to Know the New NICHD Director
NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi shares some thoughts about joining NICHD.
The Promise of the Human Placenta Project
In a guest blog post for The Scientific Parent, NICHD’s Dr. David Weinberg talks about the goals of the Human Placenta Project and shares his personal connection to the research initiative.
NIH invests $46 million in technologies to monitor placental health
The National Institutes of Health has announced $46 million in research awards for the Human Placenta Project, an initiative to revolutionize understanding of the placenta. The awards will fund technology development and testing to assess placental function throughout pregnancy, with the ultimate goal of improving pregnancy outcomes and lifelong health.
NICHD Supports Wide Range of Research on the Placenta
The placenta is a temporary organ that connects a mother and her fetus. It performs multiple functions, acting as the fetus’s lungs, kidneys, and liver, as well as the gastrointestinal, endocrine, and immune systems. It produces hormones to help maintain pregnancy and support fetal development, and it protects the fetus from the mother’s immune system. There is even a role for the placenta in determining the timing of birth.
Q&A with Human Placenta Project Coordinator David Weinberg
In 2014, NICHD launched the Human Placenta Project (HPP), a new initiative to revolutionize our understanding of the human placenta and its role in health and disease.
NIH announces $41.5 million in funding for the Human Placenta Project
The National Institutes of Health has dedicated $41.5 million for an initiative to understand and monitor the development of the human placenta during pregnancy. The funding will support the development of new technologies to assess the health of the placenta as it grows and matures, with the ultimate goal of improving the health of mothers and children.
August Wrap-Up: Promoting Safe and Healthy Pregnancies
This August, we focused on pregnancy—providing information, tips, and resources, plus a chance for members of the public to chat with experts over a Twitter #pregnancychat.
Healthy Pregnancies, Healthy Newborns: Research to Improve Outcomes
Ensuring the health and wellbeing of pregnant women and newborns is central to the NICHD mission. Scientists supported by our Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch (PPB) conduct research related to improving care for pregnant women and newborns, preventing preterm labor and birth and other birth complications, and treating diseases in newborns.
NIH Institutes Commit $2 Million to Small Businesses to Promote Placental Research
This month the NICHD and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) reissued two funding announcements, inviting grant applications for the development of methods to assess placental development and function. The Institutes intend to commit an estimated total of $2 million to small businesses in 2015 to support this research.
NICHD Research Weighs in on Weight Gain during Pregnancy
A variety of factors can make it difficult for women to maintain a healthy weight during pregnancy. But recent NICHD supported research affirms the importance of not gaining too much weight during pregnancy to reduce the risk for complications.
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