Fertility & Pregnancy News

Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy, USA 2002 Alcohol use during pregnancy is associated with health problems that adversely affect the mother and fetus; no level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy has been determined safe. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is recognized as the foremost preventable condition involving neurobehavioral and developmental … [Read more...]

C-sections Risky for Mother and BabyReported November 01, 2007 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women who want to schedule a C-section may want to re-think that decision. New research from Latin America shows non-emergency caesarean births double the risk of illness or death compared to giving birth vaginally. Researchers looked at data from 97,307 deliveries in eight Latin American … [Read more...]

Emergency Contraception Does Not Reduce Unintended Pregnancy Rate July 15, 2007 Science Daily — The "morning after pill" may be a good option for individual women in crisis, but advance access to emergency contraception is no antidote for the national problem of unintended pregnancy. Contrary to the fears of critics, the presence of Plan B does not … [Read more...]

Breastfeeding frenzy disrespects mums   Reported September 11, 2009 ON billboards and beaches, in city offices, at shopping malls and cafes, bulbous breasts in uplift bras are everywhere.   Yet put a breast to its biological purpose and wait for the uproar. "I don't p..s in public," one particularly vulgar responder wrote on a … [Read more...]

Baby Quest: Making Babies: No Men Needed!Reported February 4, 2008 MIAMI, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Frozen sperm, frozen embryos, in vitro fertilization -- the fertility revolution keeps moving forward. Researchers say the next big thing in fertility is to grow sperm in the lab. It's already being done in mice and it could be just around the corner for humans. Stephen … [Read more...]

Pregnant women advised to avoid MaxumReported May 27, 2009 Health Canada is advising expectant mothers and breastfeeding women not take the supplements Maxum Matragen or Maxum Multi-Vite. The vitamin-mineral supplements by Seroyal International Inc., have been only approved for the general public but lack the required cautionary statement on the label regarding pregnant … [Read more...]

Dieting During Pregnancy Reported October 02, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Surprising findings from a new study reveal women who diet before they’re pregnant will actually gain more weight during pregnancy than those who do not diet. During pregnancy it’s important for mothers to gain weight to help nourish their child and help him develop properly. But too much weight gain … [Read more...]

Many mums smoke through pregnancy: report   Reported June 03, 2009 Many Australian women who smoke don't quit during pregnancy, a study shows, and when they cut back it's only by a couple of cigarettes a day. Queensland researchers studied the smoking prevalence among a group of more than 260 pregnant women at an antenatal clinic. They found 37 per … [Read more...]

Breastfeeding Better for Girls Reported June 04, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) – New information reveals breast milk may benefit girls more than boys, especially when it comes to preventing respiratory infections. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center followed 119 premature babies from Buenos Aires through their first year of life and found girls were protected more by … [Read more...]

Cervix Size Affects Cesarean Birth Odds Reported March 28, 2008 ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Cesarean deliveries in the United States are increasing at an alarming rate. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, they’ve doubled within the last decade. Now, a new study says the size of a woman’s cervix halfway through her pregnancy may play a role in … [Read more...]

CT Scans on Pregnant WomenReported March 19, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Although they are potentially hazardous to a developing fetus, the use of CT scans on pregnant women has more than doubled in the last ten years. Used to capture internal images, radiologic imaging like nuclear medicine, CT, fluoroscopy and plain-film x-ray can help doctors diagnose potentially … [Read more...]

Non-invasive screening 'halves Down's Syndrome births'June 30, 2007 Offering non-invasive screening to all pregnant women can half the number of children born with Down's Syndrome (DS), new research has found. Researchers from Denmark's Kennedy Institute found that the number of children born in the country with the condition dropped by 50 … [Read more...]

Women stressed during pregnancy have unhappy kids Reported December 03, 2008 Sydney (IANS): Women stressed during pregnancy were more likely to have children with a higher risk of developing behavioural and emotional problems. Researchers analysed data from more than 1,700 children in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, … [Read more...]

Birth-control pills, low birth weight linkedReported March 09, 2009 Women who get pregnant within a few weeks of taking birth-control pills seem much more likely than others to have low birth-weight or premature babies, concludes a new Canadian study that deals with one of the most widely prescribed classes of drugs. The findings suggest couples should consider using … [Read more...]

New moms need more time to breastfeed November 24, 2007 Chinese women should be given more maternity leave to better breastfeed their babies, in line with World Health Organization recommendations, a leading pediatrician suggests. Mothers feed their babies during a breastfeeding campaign in Indonesia's Java province August 14, 2007. … [Read more...]

Detecting Danger in NewbornsReported August 22, 2007 TORONTO, Canada (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- Fetal anemia is a dangerous pregnancy complication that can wreak havoc on unborn babies. Detecting the condition in the womb is vital, but it takes an invasive procedure to do so. Now, there may be an easier way to spot the condition in moms and babies. Little Warren is … [Read more...]

'Don’t drink' warning for pregnant womenMarch 18, 2007 Women will be told not to drink alcohol while pregnant or when trying for a baby, under Government plans to stick warning labels on bottles of booze. Health ministers have met drinks industry bosses to encourage them to label bottles of wine, spirits and beer with a message of … [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...]

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...]

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...]

Alcohol Dependence Delays Childbearing Reported August 25, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Women with alcohol dependence (AD) may end up having fertility problems. A new study from Washington University School of Medicine finds alcohol use in both teenage and adult females can cause reproductive dysfunctions. AD in women is associated with delayed reproduction. Reproductive … [Read more...]

Maternal death rare in Australia Reported May 12, 2008 Australia continues to have one of the lowest maternal death rates in the world, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The report, Maternal deaths in Australia 2003–2005, shows that over the three years from 2003–2005, only … [Read more...]

Non-invasive screening 'halves Down's Syndrome births'June 30, 2007 Offering non-invasive screening to all pregnant women can half the number of children born with Down's Syndrome (DS), new research has found. Researchers from Denmark's Kennedy Institute found that the number of children born in the country with the condition dropped by 50 … [Read more...]

Asthma Risk Begins in the Womb Reported May 19, 2008 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- During pregnancy, a new mom is conscious of her eating, drinking, exercise and exposure to cigarette smoke for the health of her unborn child. But a less obvious behavior can also have lifelong effects on children. Mom’s stress during pregnancy raises a child’s risk for asthma. A pregnant woman’s … [Read more...]

BPA may pose greater threat to newbornsReported February 24, 2009 Bisphenol A, the controversial chemical used to make plastic, lingers far longer in the bodies of babies who ingest it than in adults because they lack a crucial liver enzyme needed to break it down, according to researchers at the University of Guelph. The finding prompted one of the researchers to … [Read more...]

No Evidence Older Women Generate New Eggs July 11, 2007 Science Daily — It is highly unlikely that older women generate new eggs, report researchers at the University of South Florida in collaboration with a center in China. The USF study, published in the March 2007 issue of the journal Developmental Biology and highlighted April 26, 2007 in Nature, … [Read more...]

Detecting Fetal Infections SoonerReported February 02, 2009 (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New research may help doctors identify and treat a life-threatening infection that is linked to premature birth, illness and death in order to prevent its devastating effects. Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine identified proteins associated with the bacterial infection early onset … [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...]