NICHD News Releases

XLNT! The Text4baby Program Celebrates 3 Years
In only a few years, the text4baby program has grown to more than 500,000 subscribers. This evidenced-based text messaging service allows for new moms and new moms-to-be to get timely health information and encourages them to follow prenatal and postnatal care recommendations.

February is International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month
The NICHD supports a number of efforts to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and other infections during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding, both in the United States and in other countries. Current NICHD-supported studies are exploring better methods of prevention and treatment of these infectious diseases.

Scientific Vision: The Next Decade
The NICHD embarked upon a collaborative process in 2011 to create a scientific Vision, identifying the most promising scientific opportunities for the Institute and its partners to pursue over the next decade. The newly published Scientific Vision statement presents the results of that process and outlines scientific goals for the coming decade.

NICHD reorganizes extramural program
​Alan Guttmacher, M.D., Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) announced a number of changes to streamline the institute’s organizational structure and accelerate the exchange of scientific ideas.

NICHD vision statement now available online
A document charting a research course for the many collaborators who share an interest in promoting the science concerning human development through the life span, child health, women's health, and rehabilitation research is now available online.

Research for a Lifetime: Commemorating the NICHD’s 50th Anniversary
On October 17, 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed into law the legislation establishing the NICHD to examine “the complex process of human development from conception to old age.” The Institute marks its golden anniversary with Research for a Lifetime, an all-day scientific colloquium to highlight the Institute’s mission, accomplishments, and future research directions.

NICHD and Its Collaborators Launch Expanded Infant Mortality Awareness Campaign
​​The NICHD and its collaborators launched the Safe to Sleep campaign to inform parents and caregivers about ways to reduce the risks of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related causes of infant death. Safe to Sleep builds on the successes of the Back to Sleep campaign, which began in 1994, and includes messages about safe sleep environment, breastfeeding, and infant health.

Research on Breastfeeding & Breast Milk at the NICHD
​​Breastfeeding offers benefits to both mothers and babies. Not only does human milk provide essential calories, vitamins, minerals, and other bioactive components for optimal growth, health, and development, but the process of breastfeeding also helps mother-infant bonding. To mark World Breastfeeding Week, the NICHD describes some of its current research and research findings on breastfeeding and breast milk.

Research Advances in Pediatric, Adolescent, & Maternal HIV/AIDS
​​As the NICHD continues its efforts to improve prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and related diseases in infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant women, several recent research findings help to advance the field.

NICHD Director's Lecture Series: "Low-Hanging Fruit for Better Global Health? Evidence from the Field"
​The second lecture in the NICHD Director’s Lecture Series focuses on global health and its challenges. It features Dr. Esther Duflo, NICHD grantee and the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

New Drug Regimens Cut HIV Spread from Mother to Infant
Pregnant women who are unaware that they have HIV miss the chance for drug treatment that can benefit not only their own health, but could also prevent them from transmitting the virus to their infants. When HIV is not diagnosed until women go into labor, their infants are usually treated soon after birth with the anti HIV drug zidovudine (ZDV), to prevent the infants from becoming infected with the virus.

The "PROMISE" of Research
​The “PROMISE” of Research New study—Promoting Maternal-Infant Survival Everywhere (PROMISE)—aims not only to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission but also to preserve maternal and infant health.

AIDS Awareness Month and the NICHD
​As the world observes the 21st annual AIDS Awareness Month, the NICHD looks ahead to the prevention and treatment challenges of HIV/AIDS in infants, children, adolescents, and women.

Findings Offer Insights into Role of Breastfeeding in Preventing Infant Death, HIV Infection in Resource Poor Countries
In many poor countries, mothers with HIV face a stark choice: to nurse their infants, and risk passing on HIV through their breast milk--or to formula feed, and deprive their infants of much of the natural immunity needed to protect against fatal diseases of early infancy. Now, two studies supported by the National Institutes of Health offer insights into preventing early death and HIV infection among breastfeeding infants of mothers with HIV in these countries.

Analysis Shows Infants of Mothers Infected With HIV Face Nearly Constant Risk For HIV Infection For Duration of Breastfeeding
After four weeks of age, infants who breast feed from mothers infected with HIV continue to be at risk for infection with HIV for as long as they breastfeed, according to an analysis conducted and funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health. Previously, researchers thought the risk for being infected with the virus from breast milk diminished as an infant grew older.

Moderate Weight Loss OK for Overweight Moms Who Breast Feed
Overweight mothers who breast feed their infants may lose weight through a sensible diet and exercise program-without fear of harming their infants-a study by NICHD-funded researchers has found.