Better blood transfusions for preterm babies
Results of new research from the University of Adelaide are a promising step forward in helping to improve the quality of life-saving blood transfusions for preterm babies, by reducing the likelihood of adverse inflammatory...
Eating fish could reduce postpartum depression
Low levels of omega-3 may be behind postpartum depression, according to a review lead by Gabriel Shapiro of the University of Montreal and the Research Centre at the Sainte-Justine Mother and Child Hospital. Women...
Fetuses yawn in the womb, according to new research
We know that unborn babies hiccup, swallow and stretch in the womb but new observational research concludes that they also yawn.
The 4D scans of 15 healthy fetuses, by Durham and Lancaster Universities, also suggest...
Smoking in pregnancy tied to lower reading scores
Yale School of Medicine researchers have found that children born to mothers who smoked more than one pack per day during pregnancy struggled on tests designed to measure how accurately a child reads aloud...
Fetus suffers when mother lacks vitamin C
Maternal vitamin C deficiency during pregnancy can have serious consequences for the foetal brain. And once brain damage has occurred, it cannot be reversed by vitamin C supplements after birth. This is shown through...
Blood flow changes, not hormones, explain growth of benign tumors in pregnant women
Meningiomas are a common type of benign brain tumor that sometimes grows dramatically in pregnant women. A new study suggests that this sudden tumor growth likely results from “hemodynamic changes” associated with pregnancy, reports...
Breastfeeding study finds need for iodine
A study involving researchers from Murdoch University, Curtin and Flinders universities has examined the use of nutritional supplements by pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and found potential deficiencies for babies – most notably in iodine.
Dr...
Moderate drinking in pregnancy can affect a child’s IQ
Relatively small levels of exposure to alcohol while in the womb can influence a child’s IQ, according to a new study by researchers from the Universities of Bristol and Oxford using children of the...
Vitamin D might ward off MS in pregnant women
The risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) is highest in the month of April, and lowest in October, indicates an analysis of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and...
Pollutants may play role in pregnancy delay
Couples with high levels of PCBs and similar environmental pollutants take longer to achieve pregnancy in comparison to other couples with lower levels of the pollutants, according to a preliminary study by researchers at...
