News

​Alan Guttmacher, M.D., Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) announced a number of changes to streamline the institute’s organizational structure and accelerate the exchange of scientific ideas.

A document charting a research course for the many collaborators who share an interest in promoting the science concerning human development through the life span, child health, women's health, and rehabilitation research is now available online.

As the Institute marks its golden anniversary, we look back on the NICHD's early years, its scientific accomplishments, and its future.

​The October 2012 NICHD Research Perspectives, the NICHD’s monthly podcast, is now online. The podcast features discussions of research of a study on a treatment to reduce the risk of preterm birth and the new Safe to Sleep campaign.

​A formulation of the hormone progesterone, shown to be effective in women at risk for another preterm birth because they had a prior preterm birth, was not found to be effective in preventing preterm birth for women in their first pregnancy who have a short cervix, according to a National Institutes of Health network study.

​Preterm births have fallen for the fifth straight year in a row, reported the National Center for Health Statistics of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in one of its recent National Vital Statistics Reports. This welcome decline was seen for all groups, and for each stage of pregnancy.

​The September 2012 NICHD Research Perspectives, the NICHD’s monthly podcast, is now online. The podcast features discussions of research on how a gene found in a rare cancer increases red blood cell production, the involvement of “dark matter” DNA in the body’s response to day and night cycles, and on cesarean delivery versus labor for preterm infants.

The infant mortality rate, the preterm birth rate, and the adolescent birth rate all continued to decline, average mathematics scores increased for 4th and 8th grade students, the violent crime victimization rate among youth fell, as did the percentage of young children living in a home where someone smoked, according to the federal government’s annual statistical report on the well-being of the nation’s children and youth.

In the last three decades, advances in medical technology and neonatal intensive care have significantly improved the survival rates of infants born preterm. These technologies have also helped some of the smallest preemies, called extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and defined as infants weighing less than 2.2 pounds.

An analysis of five previous studies has uncovered additional evidence of the effectiveness of progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone, in reducing the rate of preterm birth among a high-risk category of women.

Half of all stillbirths result from pregnancy disorders and conditions affecting the placenta, according to results reported by a National Institutes of Health network established to find the causes of stillbirth as well as ways to prevent or reduce its occurrence.

Prenatal steroids--given to pregnant women at risk for giving birth prematurely--appear to improve survival and limit brain injury among infants born as early as the 23rd week of pregnancy, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health research network.

An NIH scientist whose landmark collaborations led to a major advance in understanding a potentially fatal disorder of pregnancy has passed away.

The adolescent birth rate declined for the second consecutive year, preterm births declined for the third consecutive year, adolescent injury deaths declined, and fewer 12th graders binge drank, according to the federal government's annual statistical report on the well-being of the nation's children and youth.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that vaccines are safe for children diagnosed with a group of diseases known as urea cycle disorders.

Six new white papers outlining scientific opportunities for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) are now available on the institute's Web site for public comment.

The National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health has released "Embryo", a new app for the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. The NICHD collaborated on the development of the app, which provides access to digitized representations of serial sections of early stage human embryos for mobile devices, photo micrographs of early stage embryo development, fertilization videos, and a pregnancy calculator.

Gisela T. Storz, deputy director of the NICHD Cell Biology and Metabolism Program, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems.

A National Institutes of Health study has found that progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone, reduced the rate of preterm birth before the 33rd week of pregnancy by 45 percent among one category of at risk women.

Among the smallest preterm infants, those born as triplets are at greater risk than single born infants or twins of dying or developing a disability before their second birthday, according a study by a research network of the National Institutes of Health.