A new study finds women who follow USDA Dietary Guidelines during pregnancy have infants with healthy birthweights, steadier growth patterns and potentially a reduced risk of obesity later in life.
In a new study, pregnant and breastfeeding women who used personal care products like nail polish, makeup and hair dyes had significantly higher levels of toxic chemicals called PFAS in their blood plasma and breast milk.
A new study finds alcohol consumption increased during the COVID pandemic and hasn’t returned to previous levels since the crisis ended.
A new study finds children exposed to cannabis in the womb have more problems with thinking, paying attention and impulse control.
A new study finds women who work out at least three times per week lower their child’s risk of asthma by about 50%.
Women with asthma are more likely to experience a miscarriage and fertility issues, according to Danish researchers, but they also appear no less likely to give birth.
Pregnant women with high levels of PFAS chemicals commonly found in consumer products may experience weight and heart issues later in life.
A new study suggests there is no safe time or level for smoking cigarettes before or during pregnancy.
A new study links parabens and phenols used in many makeup and sunscreen products to high blood pressure in pregnant women.
Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy face no higher odds of developing premenopausal or postmenopausal breast cancer, according to researchers.
In a new study, pregnant women who used cannabis faced greater odds of gestational hypertension, preeclampsia and other complications.
AI might be able to boost the success rates of in vitro fertilization among hopeful families.
An AI program can help doctors analyze ultrasound scans to determine the ...
In a pivotal move, the United States Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will review South Carolina's controversial decision to cut off state funding for Planned Parenthood clinics, which provide critical health services to low-income residents.
A media report publ...
Microscopic plastic particles in the air could be contributing to a wide variety of health problems, including lung and colon cancers.
Tires and degrading garbage shed tiny pieces of...
The same technology behind COVID vaccines might be able to protect both the mother and child from a dangerous complication of pregnancy.
A new mouse study published Dec. 11 in the journal Nature sh...
Many women with epilepsy who are of childbearing age might not realize their anti-seizure drugs can raise the risk of birth defects or dampen the effectiveness of ...
Pregnancy can be a trying time for women at best, but new research shows that 1 in every 20 pregnant American women also suffer physical, sexual or emotional abuse.
Abuse can take a toll on the mental and physical health of the mom-to-be and her baby, because it's strong...
Could a prenatal blood test designed to find abnormalities in a fetus also detect hidden cancer in the mom-to-be?
A new study says yes: Scientists report they ...
Hospitals across America are shuttering their obstetric units, and the issue is most acute for women served by rural hospitals, a new study finds.
By 2022, a majority (52%) of rural U.S. hospitals no longer had any maternity ward, compared to 36% of urban hospitals, acco...
Most children and teenagers can shake long COVID within a couple of a years, a new, reassuring study finds.
About 70% of children and teens diagnosed with long COVID recover from the disorder within 24 months of their initial infection, researchers reported Dec. 4 in the...
So-called crisis pregnancy centers, often created with an anti-abortion agenda, are providing pregnant women some questionable medical advice alongside potentially helpful services, a new study finds.
Nearly a third (30%) of crisis pregnancy centers promote “aborti...
Premature babies not only face serious and immediate health consequences: New research shows they are also more likely to die early, a risk that persists into their 30s.
"Understanding the long-term effects of preterm birth can help us develop preventative strategies and...
The rate and number of abortions among U.S. women took a slight dip in 2022 compared to 2021, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A gene that causes accelerated reproductive aging is directly tied to the risk of miscarriage in younger women, a new study says.
A mutation of the gene KIF18A speeds up the aging process of eggs in young...
Moms who eat right during pregnancy are setting their kids up for good health, a new study says.
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MONDAY, Nov. 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Chronic health problems like high blood pressure, gestational diabetes and obesity have fueled a troubling rise in maternal healt...
Rates of postpartum depression have more than doubled in little over a decade among American women, a new analysis shows.
While about 1 in every 10 new moms (9.4%) suffered postpartum depression in 2010, that number rose to almost 1 in every 5 (19%) by 2021, report a tea...
Women who won't leave the house without makeup or a spritz of hairspray may want to think twice about those habits when they're pregnant or breastfeeding.
New research links these and other personal care products, including hair dyes, fragrances, lotions, moisturizers an...
In the wake of Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, retailers report that online sales of emergency contraceptives have soared.
The spike in purchases of what is also known as the morning-after pill or Plan B suggests women worry the incoming administrati...
One piece left out of the abortion debate is the high transportation and medical bills facing women forced to leave their state to obtain the procedure.
A new study is the first to give hard numbers on those concerns.
It finds that, even before the fall of Roe...
More than 1 in 5 Americans likely suffer from long COVID, a new AI-assisted review has found.
The analysis suggests that nearly 23% of U.S. adults experience the symptoms of long COVID, according to results published Nov. 8 in the journal
Abortion pills are safe and effective even very early in a pregnancy, a new study finds.
Clinics and hospitals tend to defer medication abortions until a woman’s pregnancy is confirmed using ultrasound, researchers said.
But abortion pills can be safely taken...
Women who take vitamin D supplements during a pregnancy may be giving their kids the legacy of stronger bones, new British research suggests.
Children whose moms took vitamin D supplements when pregnant had stronger, denser bones at the age of 7 compared to the kids of w...
Women who are pregnant but who also have the ovarian cyst disorder polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at higher odds of giving birth to an underweight baby, new Norwegian research shows.
Although numerous studies have shown that marijuana use during pregnancy may harm both the fetus and a mom-to-be, almost 6% of women responding to a recent survey said they used weed while pregnant.
That's more than one in every 20 pregnancies, noted a team from the Univ...
Smoking marijuana during pregnancy may quell your morning sickness, but it could also harm your child’s development, a new study warns.
Cannabis exposure in the womb is associated in early childhood with poorer thinking skills, researchers reported Oct. 28 in the j...
New research offers some comfort to pregnant women who become ill with COVID: Brain development doesn’t appear to be impaired in children exposed to the virus while in the womb.
...
Experiments in sheep are hinting that doses of caffeine given to women in pregnancy, as well as their newborns after birth, could prevent cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy is a disabling condition often caused by asphyxia -- reductions in oxygen supply -- around the time of...
The United States experienced a small but significant rise in infant deaths in the months following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturned Roe v. Wade, a new study shows.
The Dobbs ruling, handed down in July of 2022, led to outright bans on abortion in 14 states a...
A routine blood test can identify women in labor who are at risk for preeclampsia, a high-blood pressure condition that’s a leading cause of maternal death, a new study finds.
...
Studies in mice have shown that the fungal toxin zearalenone can mimic estrogen, and it might hamper reproduction.
It's not yet clear if the "mycoestrogen" compound can do the same in women. However, a new study finds that nearly all pregnant women ingest
Some men might have damaged sperm that will increase the risk of pregnancy complications and health problems in newborns, a new study finds.
A child’s risk of asthma can be cut by nearly half if their mother regularly works out while expecting, a new study says.
Exercising three or more times a week while pregnant reduces a child’s risk of asthma by about 46%, researchers reported Oct. 9 in the jo...
More than a third of women don’t know they are pregnant in time to meet the six-week abortion ban active in four U.S. states, a new study finds.
About 37% of women who got an ...
Hot weather can be more than just uncomfortable and annoying: New research finds it can impact an infant’s development both before and after birth.
Babies are more likely to be delivered at low birth weight as an expecting mom’s average daily heat stress incr...
Over the past decade, rates of preterm birth in the United States jumped more than 10%, a new study of more than 5 million births shows.
The rise dovetailed with an increase in some factors that make an early delivery more likely, including rates of
Four out of five pregnant women will become deficient in an essential nutrient, iron, by their third trimester, a new study finds.
The researchers and other experts are now advocating that iron levels be routinely checked during a pregnancy for the safety of a mother and...
If a woman is already in a "prediabetic" state in her teen or college years, her odds for a serious complication of pregnancy later in life rises, new research shows.
Ignoring prediabetes in teenagers "may represent a missed opportunity to avert pregnancy-related complic...
Pregnant women covered by Medicaid are less likely to get an ultrasound exam that can diagnose heart defects in a fetus, a new study finds.
“The 20-week ultrasound is hugely important in detecting birth defects because it involves assessment of the baby’s maj...
Surrogate moms have a higher risk of pregnancy complications than other pregnant women, a new study finds.
About 8% of surrogate mothers developed a severe complication like high blood pressure or serious bleeding during
Kids born during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have no higher risk of autism, even if they were exposed to COVID in the womb, a new study finds.
The study offers...
With implications for research around postpartum depression and other health issues, scientists have tracked the changes pregnancy brings to the female brain.
These changes weren't subtle: Big shifts in what's known as the brain's "white matter" versus "gray matter" were...
Florida’s six-week abortion ban caused the state’s abortion rate to drop dramatically, new research shows.
Abortions in Florida dropped to an estimated 5,630 in May and 5,200 in June, a 30% and 35% decrease from the average between January and March,
As fears of the consequences of an unintended pregnancy rose after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, rates of surgical sterilization rose in those states most affected by the decision, new research shows.
Rates of tubal sterilization -- tying, cutting or removing the f...
In the two years since the March of Dimes' last report on the state of U.S. maternity care, more than 100 hospitals nationwide have shuttered their obstetric units, leaving more new moms with literally "Nowhere to Go" for care.
The March of Dimes' 2024 report, titled "
Having asthma appears linked to raised odds for miscarriage and troubles with fertility among women, new Danish research shows.
“We found that women fulfilling the definition of asthm...
PFAS “forever chemicals” could cause pregnant women to experience long-term weight gain, increasing their risk of obesity in middle age, a new study warns.
States with the most severe abortion restrictions are the least likely to offer support to struggling families, a new study has found.
Anti-abortion states tend to have assistance programs that exclude many families on the fringes, because participants are required to be...
An AI-enhanced digital stethoscope can help doctors detect a potentially deadly form of heart failure that can occur late in pregnancy, a new clinical trial reports.
The AI-driven stethoscope was 12 times more likely than traditional methods to spot heart pump weakness t...
Ketamine is becoming a popular depression drug, but doctors aren’t keeping in mind the danger it can pose to a pregnancy, a new study warns.
Ketamine can be ...
Breastfeeding helps women shed those extra pounds of "pregnancy weight," a new study finds, and the effect is even more pronounced for moms who were overweight before their pregnancy.
Among women who exclusively breastfed their baby during its first year, women who were...