News

For the 35th observance of World AIDS Day, NICHD reflects on recent progress in HIV/AIDS research to optimize outcomes for infants and children, tailor care for adolescents and young adults, promote reproductive health, and support pregnancy and parenthood.

A single oral dose of the antibiotic azithromycin can reduce the risk of postpartum sepsis and death among women who deliver vaginally by one-third, according to a large multi-country clinical trial funded by NICHD.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2022.

Eight years ago, NIH announced a collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop solutions for a variety of global health challenges. Learn how NICHD research is supporting this goal.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2021.

The newly published 2021 NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation reflects advances since the previous plan was released in 2016 and new directions that will help guide rehabilitation research across NIH for the next five years.

NIH-supported program reduces maternal deaths, complications in rural Guatemalan communities.

NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi is joined by NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health Director Dr. Janine Clayton in assessing the growing maternal health crisis in the United States and describing NIH’s efforts to address it.

Preliminary data from NICHD-funded researchers provides caregiver-reported information on how children and teens fared during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Looking back and looking ahead. NICHD Director Dr. Diana W. Bianchi joins other leaders across NIH in reflecting on the work of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program and discussing plans for the future.

Pregnant people need to be protected through research rather than from research, the authors contend.

As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines offer the potential to halt the spread of the virus. Yet, we know very little about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines during pregnancy.

NIH-funded study suggests mother-to-infant transmission appears to be rare

The study of approximately 16,000 pregnant women will continue 12 months after childbirth and compare maternal, fetal and newborn outcomes of participants infected with the virus to those of pregnant women who have not.

Researchers to evaluate medical records of 21,000 pregnant women

Improved data reporting among the factors critical to reducing life-threatening complications of pregnancy and childbirth

NICHD was established more than 50 years ago to help understand maternal health and improve pregnancy outcomes. These selected advances highlight NICHD’s contributions to advancing the health and well-being of pregnant women, mothers, and families everywhere.

International experts have identified research needed to better understand relationships between child brain development, nutrition, and inflammation, particularly for children living in poverty.

One of NICHD’s sister Institutes, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has launched ClinRegs, a public website to help clinical researchers at NIH and in the scientific community at large navigate country-specific, regulatory information as they plan and implement clinical trials.

Vesna Kutlesic, Ph.D., became Director of the NICHD’s Office of Global Health on December 30, 2012.