News & Updates

NIH seeks input on a proposed new research program to assess biological, chemical, psychosocial, and other environmental influences on child health outcomes. Join one of NIH’s webinars to learn more.

A hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) provides treatment and care for premature infants and other newborns with severe illnesses, injuries, or conditions. NICUs are specially equipped to address the needs of critically ill infants with medical equipment designed for very small bodies. But often these devices are simply downsized versions of tools created for older patients. There remains a need for new, specially designed tools and devices to better address infants’ unique needs and conditions.

The number of American infants born before the 37th week of pregnancy dropped slightly in 2013, as did the percentage of children with asthma under the age of 17. The percentage of teens who experienced a major depressive episode increased. These and other findings are described in America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2015.

For those who dream of being parents, pregnancy problems can be tremendously frustrating and disappointing. In recent decades, scientists have developed a wide range of approaches to help struggling couples have healthy babies. And NIH-funded studies are continuing to search for even better ways to overcome the challenges of infertility.

Ten years ago, NICHD research established the standard therapy for infants born with oxygen deprivation. Today, NICHD research continues to find answers and provide hope for children and families.

Stimulating a type of brain cell receptor launches a series of events that ultimately lead to the receptor’s deactivation in a subset of cells important for coordinating the activity of brain networks, report a team of scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A technique to increase the flow of blood from the umbilical cord into the infant’s circulatory system improves blood pressure and red blood cell levels in preterm infants delivered by cesarean section, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

It may be trendy, but a new study has concluded there are no benefits to eating the placenta. In this NICHD podcast, the study author explains the rationale behind this controversial practice and describes what the science has found.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers and their colleagues have developed a “placenta-on-a-chip” to study the inner workings of the human placenta and its role in pregnancy.

The Cincinnati MR Imaging of Neurodevelopment (C-MIND) study was launched in 2009 to establish a new resource for the research community: a database of scans showing the structure and activity of the growing brain. C-MIND has taken an unprecedented look at what’s going on inside the heads of hundreds of kids from ages 0 to 18.

NICHD supports a variety of research projects and networks that are useful to neuroscientists. Find a detailed list here.

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 Della M. Hann, Ph.D., has been named NICHD Associate Director for Extramural Research. Dr. Hann joins NICHD from the NIH Office of Extramural Research, where she has served as deputy director since 2010.

​The antibiotic meropenem was approved by the U. S. Food and Drug Administration for treating abdominal infections in children less than 3 months of age.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered how a major pathway that initiates protein synthesis does so by using an enzyme as a go-between to activate the body’s internal clock.

A pelvic floor disorder (PFD) occurs when the muscles and connective tissue of the pelvis weaken or are injured. The most common types of PFDs are urinary incontinence (leaking of urine), fecal incontinence (leaking of stool), and pelvic organ prolapse (a condition in which the pelvic organs descend into the vagina).

When animals are present, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have lower readings on a device that detects anxiety and other forms of social arousal when interacting with their peers.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has launched a Spanish-language website that provides free information on health topics, including maternal and infant care, obesity, HIV/AIDS, fertility/infertility, and pregnancy.

How soon after a baby is born should the practitioner wait to cut the umbilical cord? That simple question has no easy answer.

Dr. Hinnebusch studies yeast to gain insights into the circumstances under which the information contained in a gene is ultimately translated into a protein. He is best known for the discovery that, in response to environmental stress conditions, cells control which genetic information is translated into proteins.

NICHD conducts and supports research on health issues that are unique to women and on how certain diseases affect men and women differently.