News & Updates

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has announced new funding for participating centers in its Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network.

Black people are about three times as likely as White people to die from a pregnancy-related cause, regardless of income or education level. The NIH-wide IMPROVE initiative works to reduce preventable pregnancy-related deaths and complications and promote health equity.

Compared to unvaccinated women, women vaccinated for COVID-19 have a slightly higher risk of a heavier period after vaccination, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. However, flow returns to normal in the next menstrual period.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has announced new funding for participating centers in its Neonatal Research Network (NRN). The purpose of the NRN is to improve healthcare and outcomes for newborns.

Placental cells secrete extracellular vesicles—tiny, balloon-like structures containing proteins, enzymes, DNA, and other molecules capable of transmitting chemical messages between cells—that appear to help regulate glucose uptake by maternal cells, according to a mouse study funded by the National Institutes of Health. In a series of experiments, the researchers found evidence that release of the vesicles follows placental release of the enzyme O-glycosyl transferase (OGT) after glucose levels rise. The findings may inform the development of new treatments for gestational (pregnancy-related) diabetes.

The National Institutes of Health announced the next round of winners of its RADx® Tech for Maternal Health Challenge—an $8 million prize competition to accelerate development of technologies to improve maternal health outcomes.

Serious complications from a rare childhood condition linked to COVID-19 infection appear to have decreased as SARS-CoV-2 evolved from 2020 to 2022, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The condition, called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), inflames different body parts, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. The authors noted, however, that while the proportion of those with severe complications has dropped, 37% of children hospitalized with MIS-C needed intensive care.

HIV-free children whose mothers started taking anti-HIV medications while they were in the womb may be at higher risk for lower-than-average scores in one or more areas of development at age 5, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

The theme for this year’s World Down Syndrome Day—With us, not for us—reflects a major goal of NIH’s INCLUDE project, which NICHD co-leads. INCLUDE aims to increase the participation of people with Down syndrome and their families in clinical research to expand our knowledge about the condition and its links to other health issues, with the ultimate goal of improving the health and quality of life of affected individuals.

The tool has the potential to assist with preterm birth, labor management and clinical decisionmaking.

Uterine fibroids during pregnancy do not appear to result in undersized newborns, suggests a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The finding allays concerns from previous studies that fibroids might result in smaller-than-normal infants. In fact, the study found that infants born to mothers with fibroids had slightly larger head, arm and thigh circumferences, though not to the extent that they would interfere with birth. The researchers also confirmed prior results suggesting a link between fibroids and increased risk for preterm birth.

In a mouse study, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified a potential non-hormonal contraceptive that men could take shortly before sexual activity and have fertility restored the next day. Researchers gave male mice a compound that temporarily disables soluble adenylyl cyclase, the enzyme essential for activating a sperm cell’s ability to swim and mature so that it can travel through the female reproductive tract and fertilize an egg.

Characteristics of the cries of preterm infants may help predict their risk for long-term developmental and behavioral problems, suggests an NICHD-funded study. The findings may lead to tools to identify babies at highest risk for such issues, aiding early treatment or prevention efforts.

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.

In this increasingly digital world, we must strive to better understand how technology and media affect development, health outcomes, and interpersonal relationships from infancy through adolescence. NICHD has a longstanding commitment to research on these topics.

NIH-funded technique enables automatic detection of placental compartments, oxygen status and structural abnormalities.

Emergency departments that have the highest levels of coordination of health care, personnel, procedures and medical equipment needed to care for ill and injured children have far higher rates of survival than hospitals with low readiness, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers found that more than 1,400 children’s deaths may have been prevented if hospital emergency departments had adopted national pediatric care readiness standards as laid out by the National Pediatric Readiness Project. The six-year study of 983 emergency departments in 11 states followed nearly 800,000 children.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded eight research grants to refine new technologies for early diagnosis of severe illnesses resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection in children. The new awards follow grants issued in 2020 to foster methods for diagnosing children at high risk for Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a rare, severe and sometimes fatal after-effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection or exposure in children.

Computational analysis of the word usage in personal stories of recent birthing experiences can identify women likely to develop PTSD related to childbirth, suggests an NIH-funded study. The findings may aid development of a low-cost screening tool to help diagnose and treat childbirth-related PTSD.

Oleuropein, a compound found in olive oil and olive leaves, may have the potential to treat endometriosis with fewer side effects than current treatments, suggests a study of mice and human tissue cultures funded by the National Institutes of Health.