The National Institutes of Health has announced $46 million in research awards for the Human Placenta Project, an initiative to revolutionize understanding of the placenta. The awards will fund technology development and testing to assess placental function throughout pregnancy, with the ultimate goal of improving pregnancy outcomes and lifelong health.
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.
Standard treatment better than proposed alternative for unexplained infertility
Treatment with clomiphene, a standard therapy for couples with unexplained infertility, results in more live births than treatment with a potential alternative, letrozole, according to a study of more than 900 couples conducted by a National Institutes of Health research network.
Obese Young Women Less Likely to Use Birth Control
Obese young women may be less likely to use birth control than their normal-weight peers, placing them at greater risk for unintended pregnancy, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Scan may identify best candidates for fetal spina bifida surgery
Fetuses with enlarged ventricles—the fluid-filled cavities inside the brain—may be less likely than their counterparts to benefit from surgery in the womb to treat spina bifida, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Teaching Fathers to Keep Babies Safe
Wale Olukanmi has spent more than two decades as an oncology nurse and physician's assistant at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. As a medical practitioner and father of four, he thought he was well-informed about the health risks and pitfalls of parenting. Then, he completed an all-day training on safe infant sleep practices, where he learned about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of death in babies one month to one year of age, and about other sleep-related infant deaths, such as suffocation.
Rates of survival increasing for extremely preterm infants, NIH network finds
Extremely preterm infants, those born before the 28th week of pregnancy, are surviving in greater numbers and escaping serious illness, according to a comprehensive review of births in a National Institutes of Health research network.
Rehabilitation Research at NICHD
Rehabilitation medicine includes efforts to improve function and minimize impairment due to illnesses or injuries. Learn more about NICHD’s rehabilitation research.
Insects recognize thousands of different tastes, not just basic categories like salty and sweet
Ever wonder why regular and diet soda taste so different? Both are sweet, but new research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) may explain how you can tell one from another. The study, published in the September 1 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, shows for the first time that the moth brain can detect and interpret thousands of individual tastes, not just broad categories of taste as was previously thought.
NICHD Launches New Data Sharing Resource to Accelerate Scientific Findings, Improve Health
NICHD recently launched the NICHD Data and Specimen Hub (DASH), a centralized resource for researchers to store and access de-identified data from NICHD-funded research studies for secondary research use.
Short bouts of activity may offset lack of sustained exercise in kids
Brief intervals of exercise during otherwise sedentary periods may offset the lack of more sustained exercise and could protect children against diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to a small study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
Helping Your Child Improve Reading Skills
In his recent article in The Huffington Post, Dr. Guttmacher highlights the importance of reading every day with children.
How Does Reading Work?
Children learn to read by building a number of skills. Learn more about how reading works in this slideshow.
Large percentage of youth with HIV may lack immunity to measles, mumps, rubella
Between one-third and one-half of individuals in the United States who were infected with HIV around the time of birth may not have sufficient immunity to ward off measles, mumps, and rubella—even though they may have been vaccinated against these diseases. This estimate, from a National Institutes of Health research network, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is based on a study of more than 600 children and youth exposed to HIV in the womb.
Fetal ECG readings offer no advantage over heart rate monitoring during labor
A new technology that tracks the electrical activity of the fetal heart offers no advantages over conventional technology in preventing birth complications, according to a new study by the National Institutes of Health.
Pelvic pain may be common among reproductive-age women, NIH study finds
A high proportion of reproductive-age women may be experiencing pelvic pain that goes untreated, according to a study by researchers from the National Institutes of Health and the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City.
Guttmacher retiring as director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today that he will retire from his position effective September 30, 2015. Dr. Guttmacher has led NICHD for nearly six years.
Many new mothers report no physician advice on infant sleep position, breastfeeding
Many new mothers do not receive advice from physicians on aspects of infant care such as sleep position, breastfeeding, immunization and pacifier use, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Pet care may help adolescents better care for their own type 1 diabetes
Getting an adolescent with diabetes to look after a living animal, specifically a pet fish, may also encourage them to take better care of their diabetes, according to a study of youth with type 1 diabetes, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.
NICHD Supports Wide Range of Research on the Placenta
The placenta is a temporary organ that connects a mother and her fetus. It performs multiple functions, acting as the fetus’s lungs, kidneys, and liver, as well as the gastrointestinal, endocrine, and immune systems. It produces hormones to help maintain pregnancy and support fetal development, and it protects the fetus from the mother’s immune system. There is even a role for the placenta in determining the timing of birth.
Exploring Population Dynamics
NICHD’s Population Dynamics Branch supports research on a range of topics, including the factors that make populations rise and fall, such as fertility and mortality. We checked in with branch chief Rebecca Clark to learn more about the branch’s work.