News

Sleep disturbances, common in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), do not appear to hinder conception and live birth rates for women undergoing treatment for infertility, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. In addition, the researchers found that for women with PCOS, insulin resistance—a risk factor for type 2 diabetes—was associated with lower conception and live birth rates.

NICHD Director Dr. Diana Bianchi is joined by NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health Director Dr. Janine Clayton in assessing the growing maternal health crisis in the United States and describing NIH’s efforts to address it.

Results bolster previous studies finding no growth, development differences with IVF.

Read about NICHD’s research findings and activities from 2020.

Children with birth defects have a higher risk of cancer than children without birth defects. Now, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that children conceived through in vitro fertilization—who have a higher risk of birth defects than children conceived naturally—also have a commensurately higher risk of cancer than naturally conceived children with birth defects.

Opioid use among women trying to conceive may be associated with a lower chance of pregnancy, suggests a National Institutes of Health study. Moreover, opioid use in early pregnancy may be associated with a greater chance of pregnancy loss.

NICHD has supported gynecologic and reproductive health research for decades. Learn more about its leading role in menstruation research.

A mouse study funded by the National Institutes of Health suggests that a step in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure could account for the higher rate of complications in pregnancies resulting from this form of assisted reproductive technology (ART). The researchers linked the culture of embryos in laboratory dishes after fertilization with impaired growth of the placenta, smaller fetal size, and a higher risk of preeclampsia, a serious pregnancy-related blood pressure disorder.

Antioxidant supplements do not improve semen quality among men with infertility, according to a new NICHD-supported study.

Dietary supplements containing zinc and folic acid—marketed as a treatment for male infertility—do not appear to improve pregnancy rates, sperm counts or sperm function, according to a study conducted by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Read about NICHD’s notable research findings and activities from 2019.

The Trans-NIH Fragile X Coordinating Committee, led by NICHD, recently published the final NIH Strategic Research Plan on FMR1-Associated Conditions.

The mouse X chromosome contains two amplicons—regions in which a single gene is copied multiple times—that appear to control male fertility and offspring sex ratios, an NIH-funded study suggests. The findings could provide insight into male infertility among humans.

Feeling stressed was linked to lower chances of ovulation, conception, and pregnancy among women who had earlier experienced a pregnancy loss, according to an analysis by researchers at the NICHD.

Pregnant women who are exposed to higher air pollution levels during their second pregnancy, compared to their first one, may be at greater risk of preterm birth, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

NIH invites scientists, advocacy and family groups, representatives from federal and local agencies, and others to provide comments and suggestions on its draft research plan on Fragile X syndrome and associated conditions.

Scientists and engineers are pioneering new tools and methods to advance healthcare in revolutionary ways. Learn about emerging technologies funded by NICHD.

NICHD was established more than 50 years ago to help understand maternal health and improve pregnancy outcomes. These selected advances highlight NICHD’s contributions to advancing the health and well-being of pregnant women, mothers, and families everywhere.

Group seeks to enhance testing of therapeutics used by pregnant women and nursing mothers.

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.