News & Updates

A research team funded by the National Institutes of Health has updated an online tool to provide information for clinicians and parents on outcomes for extremely preterm infants. The key change in the update was the incorporation of data from the hospital where the infant was born, which the researchers found was as important as gestational age in determining infant outcome.

NICHD funded Cohen’s award-winning work on growth factors for most of his career.

I recently joined NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, and Surgeon General Vice Admiral Jerome to highlight the integral role NICHD plays through our ACT NOW initiative.

NICHD has launched a partnership with Safe Kids Worldwide, a global non-profit working to protect kids from preventable injuries through a network of more than 400 coalitions.

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

NICHD’s new initiative—Pregnancy for Every Body—educates plus-size pregnant women about healthy pregnancy and the importance of working with a healthcare provider to develop a pregnancy plan.

Milking the umbilical cord—gently squeezing the cord and pushing the contents into the newborn’s abdomen before clamping the cord—could increase the risk for severe intraventricular hemorrhage, or bleeding into the brain’s fluid-filled cavities, in extremely preterm infants, according to results of a study funded by the National Institutes of Health that was halted for safety concerns.

Children born to women on HIV therapy containing the drug efavirenz were 2 to 2.5 times more likely to have microcephaly, or small head size, compared to children born to women on regimens of other antiretroviral drugs, according to an analysis funded by the National Institutes of Health. The children with microcephaly also had a higher risk for developmental delays, compared to children with normal head size.

A study from federal researchers shows that information about ways to reduce the risk of sleep-related infant deaths is not reaching all caregivers or healthcare providers.

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.

Treating preterm infants with antibiotics for more than 20 months appears to promote the development of multidrug-resistant gut bacteria, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The research appears in Nature Microbiology.

Improved data reporting among the factors critical to reducing life-threatening complications of pregnancy and childbirth

Infants born to mothers taking the drug naltrexone to treat opioid use disorder showed no signs of drug withdrawal and had shorter hospital stays than infants born to mothers undergoing the standard treatment, according to a small study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

NIH-supported research calls for well-defined standards for infants between 6 months and 1 year

Infants born to women exposed to high levels of air pollution in the week before delivery are more likely to be admitted to a newborn intensive care unit (NICU), suggests an analysis by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

Low vitamin D levels at birth or in early childhood may increase the risk of high blood pressure in later childhood or adolescence, suggests a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Infants of the extinct human species Australopithecus africanus likely breast fed for up to a year after birth, similar to modern humans but of shorter duration than modern day great apes, according to an analysis of fossil teeth funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. The findings provide insight into how breast feeding evolved among humans and may inform strategies to improve modern breast-feeding practices.

A high genetic risk of obesity among pregnant women is linked to fetal weight, but varies according to race, fetal sex, and other factors, according to a study by researchers at the NICHD.

Preterm infants with a lower-than-normal growth rate have key differences in the bacteria and other organisms that live in their digestive tracts, according to a study funded by the NICHD. Moreover, byproducts of metabolism in slow-growing preterm infants are like those found in malnourished children, despite receiving a diet appropriate for their age.

Patient advocates, healthcare providers and researchers help map a future research agenda aimed at reducing maternal mortality and severe morbidity.