News

Overweight mothers who breast feed their infants may lose weight through a sensible diet and exercise program-without fear of harming their infants-a study by NICHD-funded researchers has found.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) jointly will support an international research network to improve the health of women and children throughout the world.

Consuming the amount of caffeine equivalent to that found in one to two cups of coffee does not appear to increase a pregnant woman's chances of having a miscarriage.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $3.2 million to fund centers that will support early research careers in the field of obstetrics and gynecology.

Scientists at a research network funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) are seeking infertile couples for a study to investigate whether taking a sample of endometrial tissue is useful for diagnosing and treating infertility.

Children born to mothers with untreated hypothyroidism during pregnancy score lower on IQ tests than children of healthy mothers, according to a study conducted by Dr. James Haddow and partially funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and reported in the August 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

A new mathematical analysis of a previous study shows that calcium supplements do not prevent preeclampsia in women at low risk for the condition. Preeclampsia is a dangerous, sometimes fatal, disorder of pregnancy that often strikes without warning.

Two studies supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provide compelling evidence that the amount of HIV in a pregnant woman's blood, known as the maternal HIV viral load, is the prime risk factor for transmitting the virus to her baby.

Women with preeclampsia, a potentially fatal complication of pregnancy, appear to have an imbalance of two key chemical compounds that control blood pressure, according to a study by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) published in the July 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

An investigational drug that helps insulin to function more efficiently appears to combat infertility in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common cause of female infertility, according to a research team funded in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

In a groundbreaking new study, a Yale research team funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has used sophisticated brain imaging technology to show that estrogen alters brain activation patterns in postmenopausal women as they perform memory tasks.

The largest, most comprehensive analysis of its kind has found that pregnant women infected with HIV can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their infants by about 50 percent if they deliver by elective cesarean section--before they have gone into labor and before their membranes have ruptured, according to a study led by a researcher at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Researchers in a large network funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have determined the most effective of a series of common infertility treatments.

To help advance research in women's reproductive health, twelve centers have been awarded a total of $4 million to support early research careers in the field of obstetrics and gynecology.

Having high blood pressure for at least four years before getting pregnant increases a woman's chances of developing the dangerous condition known as preeclampsia, according to a study published in the September 3 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The largest, most comprehensive analysis of its kind has found pregnant women infected with HIV can reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their infants by about 50 percent if they deliver by elective cesarean section--before they have gone into labor and before their membranes have ruptured, according to a study led by a researcher at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

A new study conducted by researchers in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network suggests that the steroid dexamethasone, which is commonly prescribed to help premature infants get off mechanical ventilators, may have serious side effects.

The first large scale study of its kind shows that effective screening for Down syndrome is possible before the 14th week of pregnancy--earlier than previous screening regimens have permitted, according to a study appearing in the April 2 New England Journal of Medicine.

A team of investigators has discovered that preeclampsia--a life threatening complication of pregnancy--results from a failure of the placenta to invade the wall of the uterus and to appropriately mimic the tissue which lines blood vessels. The finding has important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of this sudden, mysterious, and potentially fatal disorder of pregnancy.