News & Updates

A group of experts led by NICHD has proposed a new anatomic model of the ovary and recommended standardized nomenclature to describe its major features.

A large international study has confirmed the findings of a previous U.S. study that linked COVID-19 vaccination with an average increase in menstrual cycle length of less than one day. The increase was not associated with any change in the number of days of menses (days of bleeding). Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the new study included data from nearly 20,000 people from Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe and other parts of the world who received any of nine different vaccines. For most study participants, the increase resolved in the cycle following vaccination.

U.S. rates of pregnancy-associated homicide—deaths that occur among women who are pregnant or had been pregnant within one year—rose in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent NICHD-funded study.

Challenge competitions offer a mechanism to quickly bring in diverse voices and expertise to innovate and problem-solve. This month, NICHD and partners launched two challenges focused on improving our nation’s maternal health: the RADx® Tech for Maternal Health Challenge and the Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge.

The National Institutes of Health is offering up to $8 million in cash prizes to accelerate development of technologies to improve maternal health outcomes for those who live in areas lacking access to maternity care.

The National Institutes of Health has launched a $3 million challenge competition to encourage community-based and advocacy organizations in the United States to develop the infrastructure and capabilities necessary to conduct maternal health research.

NIH recently released three funding opportunity announcements inviting applications for the Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence initiative, which will develop and evaluate innovative approaches to reduce pregnancy-related complications and deaths and promote maternal health equity.

Learn about an experimental male contracteptive gel called NES/T, which was developed in collaboration with NICHD and the Population Council.

Women with endometriosis may have a higher risk for stroke, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The analysis of more than 110,000 women found that compared to women without the condition, women who had been diagnosed with endometriosis had a 34% higher risk for stroke. The study authors concluded that physicians should consider counseling patients with endometriosis about their risk for stroke and other cardiovascular conditions.

Compared to pregnant women without a disability, pregnant women with disabilities may have about two and a half times the risk of experiencing intimate partner violence in the year before pregnancy and during pregnancy, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study authors conclude that health care providers should be vigilant in screening women with disabilities for intimate partner violence before and during pregnancy and refer them to appropriate information and resources.

Giving the hormone adiponectin to pregnant mice with obesity prevented later life obesity and related health conditions in their offspring, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings suggest that adiponectin, a hormone produced by fat cells, could play a role in reducing the lifelong obesity risk of children born to mothers with obesity during pregnancy.

The increase in pregnancy complications linked to air pollution exposure could result from the pollutants’ direct effects on the placenta, suggests a study in mice funded by the National Institutes of Health. Placentas of mice exposed to a mixture of common urban air pollutants before and during pregnancy were inflamed and had a loss of blood vessel cells. The study authors say the findings could provide insight into how air pollution might affect pregnancies and lead to strategies for preventing pregnancy complications.

Maternal obesity before pregnancy may increase the risk of asthma in early childhood, suggests a study by the National Institutes of Health. Children born to mothers with obesity were more likely than those born to mothers without obesity to have persistent wheezing, an indication of asthma.

A new method to detect genetic material from the placenta in the blood of pregnant women could potentially identify the risk for gestational, or pregnancy-related, diabetes in the first trimester, suggests a small study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Technique adapted from cancer treatment shows promise in mouse study.

NICHD-funded small business programs have led to innovations for patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and more. Learn about these success stories.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a prototype genetic test with the potential to predict the development and eventual severity of uterine fibroids—benign, but sometimes painful and debilitating tumors of the uterus. The test could be used to identify fibroid cases early and to better understand how they develop and how to treat them.

Life-threatening pregnancy complications known as severe maternal morbidity (SMM) appear to be associated with an increased length of hospital stay for infants and an increase in the cost of caring for them, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings support the hypothesis that infants of mothers with SMM may also be at risk for severe complications. The authors concluded that helping patients to reduce their risk factors—in early pregnancy or before conception—may reduce the chances for SMM and improve the health of infants.

Pregnant women with COVID-19 appear to be at greater risk for common pregnancy complications—in addition to health risks from the virus—than pregnant women without COVID-19, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Infants born during the pandemic—regardless of whether their mothers had COVID-19 during pregnancy—scored slightly lower on certain tests of neurodevelopment at 6 months old, compared to a similar group of infants born before the pandemic, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings suggest that children born during the pandemic may need long-term monitoring to rapidly identify any future lags in development. The researchers theorized that maternal stress resulting from the pandemic could have effects on children’s neurodevelopment.