Each year in the United States, 700 women die from pregnancy or childbirth complications – one of the highest maternal death rates in the developed world. Listen to Milestones interview with Dr. Juanita Chinn from NICHD’s Population Dynamics Branch.
News
NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.
Science Update: Arthritis drug reduces Zika birth defects in mice, according to NIH-funded study
An arthritis drug reduced the severity of Zika virus-related birth defects and improved survival among baby mice, according to a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.
Science Update: NIH-funded researchers use artificial intelligence to speed diagnosis of genetic diseases in newborns
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have combined whole genome sequencing with machine learning to diagnose rare genetic diseases in newborns in record time. Their approach diagnosed a typical case in an average of 20 hours, compared to the average of 16 days for traditional sequencing.
Science Update: Girls may comprise up to 90 percent of U.S. teens killed by an intimate partner, NICHD-funded analysis suggests
Approximately 90 percent of teens killed by an intimate partner in the United States are girls, suggests an analysis funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The deaths identified in the study most commonly resulted after the victim either ended or would not enter a romantic relationship with the perpetrator or started a relationship with someone else. The findings provide information for researchers developing interventions to prevent intimate partner homicides among teens.
Science Update: Some preterm infants produce substance that protects against brain injury, NIH-funded study suggests
Some preterm infants produce a protein in response to inflammation that appears to protect them against birth-related brain injury, according to an analysis by researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The substance, known as haptoglobin, is present in umbilical cord blood. Future studies could determine if testing preterm infants for haptoglobin identifies those who would benefit from interventions to prevent brain injury or lessen its effects.
Spotlight: Accelerating Research on Childhood Cancer and Birth Defects
A child born with a structural birth defect has a higher risk of developing childhood cancer. Researchers aren’t sure why such a link exists, but thanks to the NIH Common Fund’s Gabriella Miller Kids First Pediatric Research Program, commonly called Kids First, scientists now have resources and clues to decode this connection.
Media Advisory: NIH to Host Community Engagement Forum on Improving Maternal Health
On April 8, 2019, join community organizations and healthcare professionals to discuss strategies for reducing the rising rate of maternal deaths in the United States.
Media Advisory: Cryopreservation of immature testicular tissue leads to successful birth in monkeys
Researchers have successfully frozen testicular tissue from monkeys too young to produce sperm and used this tissue to produce a pregnancy resulting in live, healthy offspring. The finding is an early step in the development of a method to store testicular tissue for children before they undergo fertility-destroying treatment for cancer or other disorders. The research team was led by Kyle E. Orwig, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and was funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Item of Interest: NICHD Data and Specimen Hub (DASH) Releases New Biospecimen Request Functionality
Now available in DASH: Researchers can request access to NICHD biospecimens for secondary analyses.
Media Advisory: Lower costs associated with late-preterm steroid therapy, NIH-funded analysis finds
An analysis of a previous study has found more evidence to support giving the steroid betamethasone to pregnant women at risk of late-preterm delivery (between 34 and 36 weeks of gestation), according to a network funded by the National Institutes of Health. Hospital stays for infants whose mothers received the drug cost less on average, compared to stays for infants whose mothers did not take the drug.
Science Update: Prenatal supplement may protect obese offspring from high blood pressure, NICHD-funded study suggests
Obese and overweight young children whose mothers took DHA—a fat found in fish oil—during pregnancy had lower average blood pressure than those whose mothers did not take the supplement during pregnancy, according to a study funded by the NICHD.
Media Advisory: Rate of life-threatening childbirth complications increasing sharply across U.S. racial, ethnic groups
Racial and ethnic disparities in severe maternal morbidity—life-threatening maternal complications associated with childbirth—have persisted and increased at high rates among U.S. women, according to an analysis of nearly 20 years of California hospital records funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Science Update: Delayed cord clamping may benefit infant brain development, NIH-funded study finds
A 5-minute delay in clamping the umbilical cord after birth may benefit an infant’s developing brain, suggests a small study funded by the National Institutes of Health. By 4 months of age, the brains of infants in the study who underwent delayed clamping had more myelin, a brain-insulating material, compared to those whose cords were clamped within 20 seconds.
Science Update: Testosterone protects males from miscarriage caused by genomic instability and inflammation
The anti-inflammatory properties of testosterone appear to protect male mouse embryos from certain types of DNA damage and inflammation that are fatal to female mouse embryos, according to a recent NICHD-supported study.
Media Advisory: New protocol could ease diagnosis of bacterial infections in infants
A new protocol could help emergency room physicians to rule out life-threatening bacterial infections among infants up to 2 months of age who have fevers, potentially eliminating the need for spinal taps, unnecessary antibiotic treatments or expensive hospital stays.
Spotlight: Food for Health: Nutrition Research across the Lifespan
Nutrition is vital to health, growth, and development through all stages of life. Poor nutrition causes health problems and can contribute to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and other diseases. NIH recently released a draft of its first-ever Strategic Plan for NIH Nutrition Research to focus efforts in advancing the scientific understanding of interactions between diet, nutritional status, biological processes, and the environment.
Science Update: Hormone may underlie link between childhood abuse and adult cognitive decline, NIH-funded study finds.
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have linked elevated levels of an immune system hormone to the adult cognitive decline that often occurs in people who experienced abuse as children. The hormone, interleukin-6 (IL-6), is involved in the swelling or inflammation produced in response to an injury. The researchers also found that child abuse victims who have a history of depression are more likely to experience cognitive decline as adults.
Media Advisory: Inexpensive supplement for women increases infant birth size
For women in resource-poor settings, taking a certain daily nutritional supplement before conception or in early pregnancy may provide enough of a boost to improve growth of the fetus, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Release: Acyclovir labeling now includes details for treating premature infants infected with herpes virus
Newborns infected with herpes simplex virus (HSV) can be appropriately treated with acyclovir, a drug typically prescribed to adults for the treatment of HSV infections.
Science Update: NIH-funded mouse study links weight gain in pregnancy to obesity in later life
Excessive weight gain during pregnancy could permanently slow metabolism and lead to weight gain in later life, according to the results of a mouse study funded by the National Institutes of Health.