News & Updates

Following advice to sleep in the same room with their infants —but not in the same bed—does not appear to discourage new mothers from breastfeeding, as some experts had feared, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Recent NICHD-funded studies show in mice that only 3 genes are needed for sperm production, and the Y chromosome is not needed to make sperm precursors called spermatids. The findings may yield insight on potential treatments for male infertility.

The National Institutes of Health today announced its research priorities for studies to investigate how Zika virus infection affects reproduction, pregnancy and the developing fetus.

Prenatal steroid therapy reduces the chance of respiratory complications among infants born at 34-36 weeks, so-called “late” preterm infants, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health research network.

Children of women with high blood sugar levels during pregnancy may more likely be obese by age 7, compared to children born to women with lower blood sugar levels during pregnancy, according to a study led by investigators from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A disease is considered rare in the United States if it affects fewer than 200,000 people. There are approximately 7,000 rare diseases known today.

A program that helps lower-income parents interact more effectively with their infants and toddlers through reading and play improves children’s attention and decreases rates of problem behaviors by age 3 years, according to a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

Only 25 years ago, it was rare to find drug labels with dispensing information specific to children. That’s because pharmaceutical companies rarely, if ever, conducted the research necessary to develop such instructions. As a result, health care providers often gave children smaller doses of adult medicines, without evidence of how exactly the children would react.

Women who eat more potatoes before pregnancy may have higher rates of gestational diabetes—the form that occurs during pregnancy—compared to women who consume fewer potatoes, suggests a National Institutes of Health (NIH) study.

NICHD needs your input for NIH’s All of Us program.

Couples who attempt to conceive within three months after losing an early pregnancy, defined as less than 20 weeks gestation, have the same chances, if not greater, of achieving a live birth than those who wait for three months or more, according to a National Institutes of Health study.

Children conceived via infertility treatments are no more likely to have a developmental delay than children conceived without such treatments, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, the New York State Department of Health and other institutions.

Children from low income environments appear to have a higher risk of neurological impairment than those from more economically secure circumstances, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

Over the past year, NICHD contributed to numerous scientific advances and key initiatives.

If someone offends you and you’re not sure whether they intended to, it’s best not to retaliate and to assume they meant no harm. That’s the takeaway message from an international study of how children react to a provocation.

Riboflavin (vitamin B2) helps children overcome the devastating effects of a hereditary brain disorder by helping one protein fill in for a disabled protein, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other institutions.

NICHD researchers speak about a recent study testing the drug lithium in children. For years, doctors have prescribed the drug to treat adults with bipolar disorder, but until now, it has not been studied in children.

As part of the National Robotics Initiative (NRI), the National Institutes of Health announced that it will fund the development of three innovative co-robots—robots that work cooperatively with people.

Children are most likely to get HIV from their mothers in one of three ways: in the womb, during birth, or from breastfeeding or breast milk. NICHD research has helped establish safe and effective ways to prevent this type of HIV transmission. Check out our infographic to learn more.

Sleep plays an important role in memory, attention, emotional well-being, and overall physical health. In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advised middle and high schools to change their start times to 8:30 a.m. or later to enable students to get the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep on school nights.