Fertility & Pregnancy

Pregnancy loss affects young women: study Reported December 15, 2008 Young women who have lost a pregnancy through abortion or miscarriage have an increased risk for substance abuse or developing a mood disorder in later life, according to an Australian study. The Mater-University of Queensland study of pregnancy and its outcomes, involving 1223 women, … [Read more...]

Opening up About Sexual Health Screening Reported May 14, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Though young women may be fine with being tested for sexually transmitted diseases, they don’t like talking about their sex lives with their doctors. According to a new survey from the University of Melbourne in Australia, not only did they not want to give details, sometimes they lied … [Read more...]

Pregnant Women Should Buckle Up Reported April 08, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There is a long-standing myth that wearing a seatbelt is not safe for pregnant women. A new study finds it’s not only safe, but proper seatbelt use by pregnant women would save 200 fetuses a year. “It’s very clear, based on this study, that pregnant women should buckle up every single time … [Read more...]

Preventing Late-Term Pregnancy LossReported August 04, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Fetal death, or intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD), caused by an under-sized placenta, affects 30,000 women in the U.S. each year. Technological limits currently prevent doctors from monitoring the growth of the placenta, the source of nourishment for the fetus. "The placenta can be so small … [Read more...]

Abortion Drastically Increases Risk of Pre-Term and Low-Weight Births Reported December 17, 2007 Richmond, VA (LifeNews.com) -- Women who have one or more abortions face a drastically increased risk of giving birth to a pre-term or low birth weight baby in a subsequent pregnancy. That's the conclusion a team of scientists from Virginia Commonwealth … [Read more...]

Secondhand Smoke Linked to Fertility ProblemsReported January 02, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There's one more reason why you should quit smoking: it may make it harder for those around you to have children. Researchers have found women exposed to secondhand smoke in either childhood or adulthood, are much more likely to experience fertility issues and suffer miscarriages. … [Read more...]

Pregnancy Can Go Well for Women with Diabetes NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women with type 1 diabetes who monitor their blood glucose daily both before and during pregnancy have better outcomes, Danish researchers report. In the largest study to date of pregnant women with type 1 diabetes, Dr. Dorte M. Jensen … [Read more...]

Study: MS Has Little Impact on PregnancyReported December 28, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) – There is good news for women with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant. Pregnant women with multiple sclerosis are only slightly more likely to have cesarean deliveries and babies with a poor prenatal growth rate than women who do not have MS. … [Read more...]

Implications of twin, triplet and quadruplet pregnancies on mothersSaturday, 4-Dec-2004 More women giving birth in their later years has given rise to fertility treatments which has in turn led to what can be described as an explosion in twin, triplets and quadruplet pregnancies. And while studies have been conducted to determine the impact on babies, mothers … [Read more...]

The Male Pill: A Work in Progress Reported March 31, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers are making progress on the development of a male version of “the pill.” Investigators from Australia have found the male form of hormonal contraception works best when men are given a combination of the male hormone testosterone and a synthetic version of the female hormone … [Read more...]

Birth drugs 'cut breastfeeding'   Reported September 01, 2009 The study, which appears in the journal BJOG, suggests the drugs may impede milk production. The Swansea University team also confirmed high doses of painkilling drugs have a similar effect. The findings may help to explain the limited success of efforts to increase breastfeeding rates … [Read more...]

Should we seek to screen for autism? Reported January 12, 2009 The news about the latest autism research, which raises the possibility of screening to test for autism, has kicked off the expected debate about whether parents should be screening their children for autistic spectrum disorders. Proponents of autism screening (which is not … [Read more...]

U.S. Reaching Breastfeeding Goals Reported January 10, 2005 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new study shows more American women are breastfeeding their newborns, but there is still room for improvement. The data also show many women breastfeed for only a short period of time. Breastfeeding is recognized as beneficial for both infants … [Read more...]

Unified approach helps preemies thriveReported December 03, 2009 COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A unified approach -- implementing small baby guidelines -- for premature infants improved outcomes, U.S. researchers found. The study, published in Acta Paediatrica, found 37 infants born prematurely -- before 27 weeks gestation age -- cared for using this approach were … [Read more...]

New Egg Freezing Technique Preserves FertilityReported September 05, 2009 A breast cancer patient who must undergo chemotherapy may lose her chance to have children. The harsh medications can destroy fertility. Now improved egg-freezing methods are helping these women, and others. Trina mills is just 28 years old and has a-plastic anemia. It didn't occur to her that … [Read more...]

Vaccine may reduce infection in unborn babiesReported March 19, 2009 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An important cause of neurological impairment in infants -- infection with cytomegalovirus while they are in the womb -- may be curbed with the use of a new vaccine. Most adults have been infected with cytomegalovirus or CMV, usually with negligible consequences. However, when … [Read more...]

Antidepressants During Pregnancy Puts Newborns at RiskReported October 12, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Exposure to a certain class of antidepressant medications during pregnancy may put a baby at risk for preterm birth, a low five-minute Apgar score (a measure of overall health of the baby) and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit, according to a recent report. One … [Read more...]

Child neglect linked to feeding Reported January 27, 2009 Women who do not breastfeed their infants are nearly four times more likely to neglect and abuse their child, a study of Australian women has found. The analysis of about 6000 Queensland mothers and their children also discovered that the longer a woman breastfeeds, the less likely … [Read more...]

Pregnancy does not cloud the brain, says Australian study Reported October 12, 2008 SYDNEY - Pregnancy has long been blamed for addling women's minds but new work by Australian researchers finds this idea may be nothing more than an old wives' tale. A study by the Australian National University's centre for mental health research found that … [Read more...]

Baby’s Smile a Natural High Reported July 09, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) The happy smile of a baby does more than warm a mother’s heart. It literally makes her glow. Using magnetic resonance technology, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine were able to actually see key reward areas of a mother’s brain light up when she was shown pictures of her smiling baby. The reaction … [Read more...]

Night shift linked to late pregnancy loss 2004-12-23 NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women who regularly work the night shift may have an increased risk of a miscarriage late in pregnancy or a stillbirth, a new study suggests. The study of more than 40,000 Danish women who worked during pregnancy found that those who … [Read more...]

Brush Your Way to a Healthy BabyReported April 03, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) – Could better dental hygiene lead to healthier babies?   Investigators who looked at bacteria in the stomach contents of newborns suggest that might be the case. Their research found two species of bacteria in the gastric aspirates (defined as stomach contents containing amniotic fluid swallowed … [Read more...]

China moves to ban late abortions December 16, 2004 The Guardian-- One of the world's least controlled abortion regimes will be tightened next month, when the Chinese city of Guiyang introduces a pilot programme aimed at halting the widespread termination of female foetuses. The new policy bans doctors from carrying out abortions on most women who … [Read more...]

Delivering Babies Better Reported July 17, 2006 PORTLAND, Ore. (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- About 50 babies die each day in the United States during childbirth. Most of them are too small or underdeveloped to live, but some die because of medical mistakes. Now there's a new … [Read more...]

Differences in IVF vs. Natural PregnanciesReported February 02, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- There are distinct differences in protein detection between woman who become pregnant through in-vitro fertilization rather than spontaneous pregnancies in the first half of gestation, according to a new study. "Since women who have IVF pregnancies have a higher rate of complication … [Read more...]

The Effects of Stress during Pregnancy Reported February 05, 2008 There may be a connection between extreme stress in pregnancy and schizophrenia in the offspring some time in the future, scientists say. This has been disclosed in the Archives of General Psychiatry by a team of researchers from the University of Manchester under the guidance of … [Read more...]

A Better Way to Predict Preemie Survival Reported April 17, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Each year, 40,000 babies are born so prematurely that parents and doctors must make a decision whether or not to provide the infant with medical intervention to try to save it’s life. These decisions are made based on the projected chance of survival for the infant -- which now is more … [Read more...]

Doctors rebel on abortion changes December 16, 2004 DOCTORS have forced the Health Department to dump a secret plan to tighten the guidelines for women seeking a taxpayer-funded abortion after the first trimester of pregnancy.Documents obtained by The Australian confirmed the Health Department formally … [Read more...]

Quitting smoking in pregnancy good sign for child behaviour   Reported October 06, 2009 A PhD student at the University of Western Australia, working with the Telethon Institute of Child Health, has revealed there are long-term benefits for a child if their mother quits smoking even after the pregnancy is established. The findings will be … [Read more...]

Bacteria Linked to Infant Deaths Reported June 09, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) – There are many theories about what causes sudden unexpected death of an infant (SUDI) or cot death. In the U.K., SUDI is one of the most common reasons for infant death in the first year of life. A new study finds high levels of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli bacteria may explain the … [Read more...]