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Blood transfusions for preterm infants to do not appear to increase the risk of a life-threatening intestinal condition, a new study suggests.

The odds of cerebral palsy among surviving preterm infants born before 27 weeks of pregnancy increased by an average of 11% per year and study authors say the increase may reflect improved survival due to advances in infant care.

Within NIH, NICHD leads research focused on women’s health “below the belt.” This includes addressing a spectrum of gynecological and reproductive health issues, from endometriosis to pelvic floor disorders.

Individuals born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy and when they were children may be at an increased risk for high blood pressure and diabetes.

An AI program has the potential to identify signs of childbirth related post-traumatic stress disorder by evaluating short narratives of patients who have given birth. With further refinements, the program could potentially identify a large proportion of those at risk.

A report issued by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine makes recommendations to improve the safe and ethical inclusion of pregnant and lactating women in clinical research while reducing the risk of liability. Enhancing inclusion of pregnant and lactating people in clinical research promises to help people and their health care providers make informed decisions.

Infertility affects millions of lives. NICHD supports research to better understand its causes and contributing factors and to improve treatments for both male and female inferility.

Infants who underwent surgery for inguinal hernia—when intestinal tissue protrudes through an abnormal opening in the abdominal muscles—after discharge had fewer adverse events than those who had surgery while still in the hospital, a study suggests. The findings offer guidance on the best timing to perform this delicate surgery on fragile infants.

Patients with uterine fibroids who scored high on stress questionnaires also had high levels of certain microRNAs—which regulate genes--in their uterine muscle tissue. The findings add to previous studies linking stress to the development and severity of fibroids.

The Division of Intramural Research provides fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems through basic, clinical, and population-based research.

Relatives of men with no or a very low sperm count may be at higher risk for cancers. The findings may lead to new ways for identifying people at risk.

An NIH-funded study suggests that fenoprofen may be a potential therapeutic for endometriosis, a disease that affects approximately 1 in 10 U.S. women. The researchers used a computer algorithm to evaluate nearly 1,300 existing drugs and tested their top candidate, fenoprofen, in a rodent model of the disease.

Around 200 million people worldwide live with endometriosis, a common gynecological disease with symptoms that include pelvic pain, fatigue, and infertility. NICHD recently hosted a discussion about advances and new directions in endometriosis research, and the imperative of raising awareness and education about the disease.

People who receive a COVID-19 vaccine during the first half of the menstrual cycle are more likely to experience a small, temporary increase in cycle length than those vaccinated during the second half, suggests an NICHD-funded study. By providing additional information about what to expect after a COVID-19 vaccine, the findings may help ease fears and anxiety around vaccination.

There were more than 2.5 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia in the United States in 2022. NICHD research aims to prevent these and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among women, infants, children, and adolescents. Focus areas include addressing the need for additional STI prevention methods for women and curbing the rise in congenital syphilis cases.

Compared to formula fed infants, extremely preterm infants fed donated human milk had half the rate of necrotizing enterocolitis, a life threatening condition of the intestines. There were no differences in neurological development between those fed donor milk and those fed formula.

Preterm infants born to people who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 had roughly the same levels of antibodies to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 as term infants born to vaccinated people, allaying concerns that fewer antibodies might pass to preterm infants.

Sepsis screening tools designed to account for the physiological changes that may occur during pregnancy perform best from 20 weeks of pregnancy through 3 days postpartum, research suggests. In early pregnancy and later in the postpartum period, tools based on general sepsis screening criteria may more accurately predict which patients are at high risk for maternal sepsis, a leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths.

An atlas of the placenta developed by NIH researchers offers insight on the communication that occurs between maternal and fetal cells during labor and delivery.

Researchers linked malformations in stillborn infants to copy number variants—lengths of DNA in which hereditary material is duplicated or deleted. What they learned could lead provide information helpful to parents and for pregnancy care.