Pregnancy and Childbirth News

June 3, 2025

Top Headlines

Molecular Link Between Air Pollution and Pregnancy Risks

June 3, 2025 — A new study found exposure to specific tiny particles in air pollution during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of various negative birth ...

Study Quantifies the Sleep Loss and Disruption Experienced by New Mothers

May 27, 2025 — A new study quantifies the amount of sleep loss experienced by first-time mothers in the weeks after giving birth and is the first to identify the unique type of sleep disruption that persists throughout the first months of ...

Unconditional Cash Transfers Following Childbirth Increases Breastfeeding

May 27, 2025 — The U.S. is facing a maternal health crisis with higher rates of maternal mortality than any other high-income country. Social and economic factors, including income, are recognized determinants of maternal morbidity and mortality. In addition, more ...

Researchers Identify a Dual Origin of Cells Controlling Puberty and Reproduction

May 21, 2025 — Researchers have shown that gonadotrophs, cells in the pituitary gland with a key role in puberty and reproduction, come from two different populations, with the majority produced after birth rather ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:44pm EDT

New Method Paves Way for Fewer Severe Birth Injuries

May 21, 2025 — High birth weight is the main risk factor for birth injuries to the anal sphincter muscles of the person giving birth, according to a new study. This new method for predicting the risks could improve ...

Good News for People With Migraine Who Take Drugs Before or During Pregnancy

May 21, 2025 — There's good news for people with migraine who take common drugs before or during pregnancy -- a new study found no increase in neurodevelopmental ...

Selenium Exposure During Pregnancy May Reduce Childhood Streptococcal Infections

May 20, 2025 — Higher maternal selenium levels during pregnancy were associated with a lower risk of streptococcal infections in children, suggesting a potential ...

A Step Forward in Treating Serious Genetic Disorders Prenatally

May 14, 2025 — Evidence is mounting that clinicians can treat serious genetic disorders prenatally by injecting medicine into the amniotic fluid, thus preventing damage that begins in ...

Improved Model System Allows Researchers to Study Embryo Development

May 15, 2025 — Research improves upon a popular experimental model of mammal development and in doing so, reveals more of the inner workings of a critical period during the formation of an ...

Marsupial Research Reveals How Mammalian Embryos Form

May 14, 2025 — Researchers have revealed insight into why embryos erase a key epigenetic mark during early development, suggesting this may have evolved to help form a ...

Postpartum Depression and Bonding: Long-Term Effects on School-Age Children

May 14, 2025 — Postpartum maternal mental health and mother-to-infant bonding are well-established as critical factors in a child's psychosocial development. However, few studies have explored the combined impact ...

Higher Success Rate Using a Simple Oral Swab Test Before IVF

May 13, 2025 — Researchers have conducted a clinical study to show how a woman's genetic profile provides information on which hormone treatment is most effective for in vitro fertilization (IVF). The researchers ...

Scientists Film the Heart Forming in 3D Earlier Than Ever Before

May 13, 2025 — Researchers have identified the origin of cardiac cells using 3D images of a heart forming in real-time, inside a living mouse ...

Fatty Liver in Pregnancy May Increase Risk of Preterm Birth

May 9, 2025 — Pregnant women with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) have an increased risk of giving birth prematurely and the risk increase cannot be explained by obesity, according ...

Childhood Brain Tumors Develop Early in Highly Specialized Nerve Cells

May 7, 2025 — Medulloblastomas, brain tumors in children, are thought to develop between the first trimester of pregnancy and the end of the first year of life. Researchers have now analyzed the genetic changes of ...

Evidence Review Raises Concern About Cannabis Use in Pregnancy

May 5, 2025 — A systematic evidence review finds that consuming cannabis while pregnant appears to increase the odds of preterm birth, low birth weight and infant ...

The All-Female Korean Haenyeo Divers Show Genetic Adaptions to Cold Water Diving

May 2, 2025 — The Haenyeo, a group of all-female divers from the Korean island of Jeju, are renowned for their ability to dive in frigid waters without the aid of breathing equipment -- even while pregnant. A ...

Designer Microbe Shows Promise for Reducing Mercury Absorption from Seafood

May 1, 2025 — Scientists inserted DNA-encoding methylmercury detoxification enzymes into the genome of an abundant human gut bacterium. The engineered bacterium detoxified methylmercury in the gut of mice and ...

Data Collection Changes Key to Understanding Maternal Mortality Trends in the US, New Study Shows

Apr. 28, 2025 — A new study offers fresh insight into trends in maternal mortality in the United States. For the first time, the study disentangles genuine changes in health outcomes from shifts caused by how deaths ...

Chimpanzee Stem Cells Offer New Insights Into Early Embryonic Development

Apr. 25, 2025 — Chimpanzee naive pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) can now be grown in cellular cultures, reveals a recent study. They successfully created chimpanzee early embryo models, called 'blastoids,' ...

Newborns Living Near Trees Tend to Be Healthier: New Data Suggests It's Not Because Healthier People Reside Near Parks

Apr. 23, 2025 — The link between proximity to greenspace -- including trees and parks-- and healthy birth outcomes is well established. Now new data adds to our understanding of these health benefits, accounting for ...

How DNA Self-Organizes in the Early Embryo

Apr. 23, 2025 — An international research team has provided a detailed insight into how the spatial organization of genetic material is established in the cell nucleus of early embryos within the first hours after ...

A Mysterious Pathogen: Oropouche Virus More Common in Latin America Than Previously Thought

Apr. 14, 2025 — Like the dengue and Zika viruses, Oropouche virus causes a febrile illness. There are recent indications that infections during pregnancy can cause damage to unborn babies. Researchers have now ...

Gestational Diabetes Linked to ADHD in Children

Apr. 14, 2025 — A new study has found children born to mothers who experienced gestational diabetes (GDM) during pregnancy are more likely to develop attention-deficient hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and externalizing ...

Guinea Pigs: Promising Animal Model to Study the Human Embryo

Apr. 10, 2025 — Researchers reveal that the guinea pig pre-implantation embryo is very similar to the human embryo, spurring a better understanding of infertility and early human ...

Protein Necessary for Fruit Fly Fertility

Apr. 9, 2025 — Researchers have found a new role for the transcription factor (proteins that regulate the transcription, or copying, of genes). In the fruit fly, this transcription factor, named Traffic Jam, ...

Researchers Identify Growing List of Genetic Disorders Treatable Before or Immediately After Birth

Apr. 9, 2025 — Researchers have identified nearly 300 genetic disorders that can be treated before or immediately after a baby is born. This 'treatable fetal findings list' could improve the diagnosis of ...

New Brain Organoid Model

Apr. 2, 2025 — Organoids have revolutionized science and medicine, providing platforms for disease modeling, drug testing, and understanding developmental processes. While not exact replicas of human organs, they ...

'Is That My Career Over?': Reflections of Elite Athletes During Pregnancy

Apr. 2, 2025 — Elite athletes have shared their worries about their sports career after ...

Using Everyday Products During Pregnancy Can Affect Newborn's Metabolism, Study Finds

Apr. 2, 2025 — A newly published study found that a mother's exposure to phthalates during pregnancy can affect their newborn's metabolism and brain development. These widely used plasticizers are ...

An Immune Cell May Explain How Maternal Inflammation Causes Neurodevelopmental Disorder

Apr. 1, 2025 — A research group has uncovered a potential mechanism linking maternal inflammation to delayed neurodevelopment in infants. The research suggests the role of CD11c-positive microglia -- immune cells ...

Postpartum Female Preference for Cooler Temperatures Linked to Brain Changes

Mar. 25, 2025 — Mothers experience major metabolic adaptations during pregnancy and lactation to support the development and growth of the new life. Although many metabolic changes have been studied, body ...

New IVF Method Mimics Fallopian Tube Environment, Increasing Sperm Viability

Mar. 24, 2025 — The success of in vitro fertilization depends on many factors, one of which is sperm viability. A recent study documents a new way to select viable sperm and prolong their viability in the ...

Scientists Use Cellular Programming to Mimic First Days of Embryonic Development

Mar. 20, 2025 — Using CRISPR-based engineering methods to prompt stem cells to organize into embryo-like structures, scientists were able to create 'programmable' cellular models of embryos without ever ...