Newborns infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV) can be appropriately treated with acyclovir, a drug typically prescribed to adults for the treatment of HSV infections.
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: NIH-funded mouse study links weight gain in pregnancy to obesity in later life
Excessive weight gain during pregnancy could permanently slow metabolism and lead to weight gain in later life, according to the results of a mouse study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Science Update: Known risk factors may account for only part of the U.S. increase in life-threatening childbirth complications
The increasing rate in the United States of severe maternal morbidity—life-threatening maternal childbirth complications—may not be accounted for by the simultaneous increase in known risk factors for these complications, suggests an analysis of California hospital records funded by the National Institutes of Health. To reduce the rate of severe maternal morbidity, more research is needed to identify additional risk factors and other potential causes for the increase, the authors concluded.
Spotlight: Flu during pregnancy: Nothing to sneeze at
Health experts recommend the seasonal flu shot for pregnant women.
Science Update: NIH-funded study finds no increased risk of newborn heart malformations from anti-nausea drug
Contrary to earlier studies, a National Institutes of Health funded analysis of records from more than 88,000 pregnancies in which women took the anti-nausea drug ondansetron found no increased risk for newborn heart malformations and only a slightly increased risk for cleft lip and palate.
Media Advisory: NICHD chronicles its major research advances of 2018
As 2018 winds down, a new slideshow highlights a selection of initiatives, therapies, and scientific advances supported by NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Spotlight: Selected NICHD Research Advances of 2018
In 2018, researchers funded by NICHD made significant progress in advancing the health and well-being of infants, children, teenagers, and adults across the United States and around the world.
Science Update: NIH study explores link between maternal obesity and fetal growth during pregnancy
Maternal adipokines—molecules produced by fat cells—influence fetal growth and newborn length, birthweight, and proportion of body fat.
Item of Interest: NICHD seeks applications to study effects of maternal opioid use on newborns
The initiative seeks to improve treatment and care of infants and children who were exposed to opioids in the womb.
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.
Science Update: Short interval between pregnancies may increase health risks for mothers and infants
Compared to younger mothers, mothers over 35 are at higher risk of death and serious illness if they conceive 6 months or less after the birth of a previous child, according to a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. For mothers of all ages, such short intervals between pregnancies were associated with higher risk for preterm birth and for having infants small for their gestation age.
Release: NIH to fund national data collection on new mothers with disabilities
Collaboration with CDC aimed at evaluating pregnancy initiatives and outcomes
Release: Delayed pushing appears to have no effect on chances for spontaneous vaginal delivery
Delaying pushing during the second stage of labor—when the cervix is fully dilated at 10 centimeters—is a common practice at many U.S. hospitals, but it may have no effect on whether pregnant women deliver spontaneously (without a cesarean section or other intervention), according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Release: NIH led task force submits recommendations on research needs for pregnant and nursing mothers
NIH led task force submits recommendations on research needs for pregnant and nursing mothers
Release: Neurons absorb and release water when firing, NIH study suggests
Neurons absorb and release water when they relay messages throughout the brain, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Tracking this water movement with imaging technology may one day provide valuable information on normal brain activity, as well as how injury or disease affect brain function.
Release: Blood test may identify gestational diabetes risk in first trimester, NIH analysis suggests
A blood test conducted as early as the 10th week of pregnancy may help identify women at risk for gestational diabetes, a pregnancy-related condition that poses potentially serious health risks for mothers and infants, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
Release: Induced labor at 39 weeks may reduce likelihood of C-section, NIH study suggests
Healthy first-time mothers whose labor was induced in the 39th week of pregnancy were less likely to deliver by cesarean section, compared to those who waited for labor to begin naturally, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Media Advisory: Fetal DNA sequencing potentially could reduce need for invasive prenatal diagnostic procedures
Sequencing the fetal DNA that circulates in a pregnant woman’s blood holds promise for modern genomic medicine, according to a review article by NICHD Director Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., and a colleague. Fetal DNA sequencing improves the accuracy of prenatal screening tests for genetic conditions and at times has led to the diagnosis of maternal conditions that may have otherwise gone undetected.
Item of Interest: NIH extends study on HIV drug, dolutegravir, to evaluate potential safety concerns for pregnant women
The study seeks to determine if exposure poses a risk for neural tube defects.
Podcast: Infertility: Men’s Health
Dr. Enrique Schisterman, Chief of the Epidemiology Branch shares his personal struggle with infertility, which led him to dedicate a research career focusing on ways to help couples boost fertility.