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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 data challenge to identify risk factors for first-time pregnancies
Awarded projects seek to reduce pregnancy complications and prevent maternal deaths.
Item of Interest: Una Grewal Appointed Director of the Division of Population Health Research
Dr. Grewal has been acting director of the division since February 2020.
Spotlight: Developing Mobile Health Solutions for Women in Guatemala
NIH-supported program reduces maternal deaths, complications in rural Guatemalan communities.
Release: NIH-funded study highlights stark racial disparities in maternal deaths
Racial and ethnic disparities in maternal mortality in the United States may be larger than previously reported, suggests an NICHD-funded study.
Release: NIH data challenge seeks innovative methods for identifying complication risks in first-time pregnancies
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.
Director's Corner: A Mother’s Day Message: Time for Action to Improve Maternal Health
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.
Media Advisory: NIH calls for greater inclusion of pregnant and lactating people in COVID-19 vaccine research
Pregnant people need to be protected through research rather than from research, the authors contend.
Director's Corner: Including pregnant and lactating people in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine research
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.
Media Advisory: Severe COVID-19 in pregnancy associated with preterm birth, other complications
NIH-funded study suggests mother-to-infant transmission appears to be rare
Spotlight: Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2020
Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2020.
Release: Postpartum depression may persist three years after giving birth
National Institutes of Health study suggests women with mood disorders, gestatational diabetes may have a higher risk.
Science Update: Placental DNA in maternal blood could predict later pregnancy complications, NICHD funded study finds
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.
Science Update: Mouse study links embryo culture after IVF with reduced placental, fetal growth
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.
Science Update: Pregnancy, birth complications higher among deaf and hard of hearing women, suggests NIH-funded study
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.
Media Advisory: NIH-funded study to investigate pregnancy outcomes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic
Researchers to evaluate medical records of 21,000 pregnant women
Media Availability: NIH maternal mortality workshop to address conditions that increase the risk of life-threatening pregnancy complications
Program will include lessons learned from caring for pregnant women with COVID-19.
Director’s Corner: Advancing Women’s Health: Research to Reduce Maternal Mortality and Morbidity
NICHD is working with the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health to enhance coordinated activities addressing the problem of maternal morbidity and mortality.
Release: NIH scientists link higher maternal blood pressure to placental gene changes
Gene modifications correspond to blood pressure increases at distinct pregnancy intervals.
Release: NIH’s PregSource research project now available in Spanish
To expand the reach of its crowdsourcing pregnancy research project, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently launched a Spanish version of PregSource®.