News & Updates

Myelomeningocele (MY-ell-oh-men-NING-guh-seal) is the most severe form of spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spine does not fully close around the spinal cord. With myelomeningocele the spine protrudes through the opening of the spinal column and may be enclosed in a fluid-filled sac. Spina bifida belongs to a class of birth defects called neural tube defects, which affect the brain and spine. The exposed spinal cord is susceptible to injury, which may result in weakness and

NICHD Director Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., initiated the NICHD Director’s Lecture Series as a way to showcase cutting-edge science relevant to the Institute’s mission. The forum also enables staff and other attendees to interact with other nationally recognized scientists.

The rate of stillbirths in rural areas of six developing countries fell more than 30 percent following a basic training program in newborn care for birth attendants, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The study tracked more than 120,000 births.

An intensive educational program for physicians and midwives involving 19 hospitals in Argentina and Uruguay dramatically reduced the rate of postpartum hemorrhage, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that reduces stillbirths among rodents born to mothers infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV)--a common virus that can also cause mental retardation and hearing loss in newborn children who were infected in early fetal life.

A drug first used to reduce the risk of stomach ulcers in people taking certain types of painkillers offers an alternative to surgery after miscarriage, according to a study by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health and other research institutions.

One of the National Institutes of Health has begun a concerted effort to determine the extent and causes of stillbirth- the death of a fetus at 20 or more weeks of pregnancy.

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has selected the first eight research units for the Global Network for Women's and Children's Health Research, an international research network to improve the health of women and children throughout the world.

The anti-diabetes drug metformin appears to reduce the likelihood of early miscarriage in women with a common form of female infertility, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

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.