Maternal Viral Infection May Increase Autism Risk in Fetus

A recent study shows that activating a woman's immune system during pregnancy interferes with the development of neural cells in the brains of her offspring in a way that damages the cells' ability to transmit signals and communicate with other cells. ... read more »

New Year’s Fertility Resolutions: Leave Behind Bad Vices

It is common knowledge that drinking alcoholic beverages or those that are high in caffeine, smoking, and taking herbal remedies are frowned upon while pregnant or nursing. These substances can have a negative impact on your baby's growth and development. ... read more »

Global Insecticide May be Altering the Brain

Chlorpyrifos is an insecticide that used to be used in households in the US to kill insects in yards and gardens. When pregnant women are exposed to even the smallest amount of the chemical it can affect the fetus. ... read more »

Is It Safe to Put Headphones on Your Belly During Pregnancy?

While music is generally considered safe for the fetus, there are some rules about playing music through your belly aimed at protecting baby and preventing possible risk during development. ... read more »

Hospital Care for a Premature Infant

Premature infants are born before the 37th week gestation. The earlier an infant is born, the greater the chance special care will be required before the infant is discharged from the hospital. ... read more »

Pregnancy Timeline Calculator

The babyMed pregnancy timeline calculator creates a personalized 9+ months timeline and a timetable of your pregnancy progress. ... read more »

Can Fetal Heart Rate Predict a Miscarriage?

The fetal heart rate can be seen on ultrasound as early as 5 weeks 1 days of the pregnancy, and usually it's seen by 6 weeks and 0 days. ... read more »

Pregnancy Week By Week

See how your baby is developing during pregnancy week by week.. ... read more »

Third Trimester of Pregnancy: What Happens With My Baby?

You're finally in your third trimester, and you're feeling it from head to toe. While you enjoyed the second trimester thoroughly, the third trimester starts a whole crop of new physical and emotional changes. ... read more »

What Happens To My Baby in the First Trimester?

Your body goes through many changes throughout the first trimester, as does your baby. Here are some things that will happen as your baby goes through the first 12 weeks of life. ... read more »

Baby’s Brain Injury May Have Occurred Long Before Delivery

Recent advances in medical science indicate many brain injuries occur during pregnancy, long before labor begins. In these cases, medical personnel are not at fault. ... read more »

Preterm Birth Rate at Record Low

The March of Dimes issues an annual 'report card' to each state and to the US as a nation. The report cards reveal which well-baby strategies areworking and where improvement is needed. ... read more »

The Human Microbiome and Pregnancy, Fertility, Infertility

A great deal of study is underway to learn more about the vaginal, gut, and uterine microbiome (collection of bacteria, fungi, yeast, and other microbial inhabitants) in fertility and pregnancy. ... read more »

Researchers Create Patch to Repair Ruptured Membranes

One of the leading causes of premature labor is ruptured membranes.There are a variety of reasons why the 'bag of waters' ruptures tooearly, but once the bag has broken the pregnancy must end within a short period to prevent complications. ... read more »

Psychiatric Disorders Linked to Environmental Stressors During Gestation

A team of researchers based at Yale University seem to be one giant step closer to solving the riddles of when and how some psychiatric disorders start. ... read more »

Pregnancy Diet May Affect Future Bone Health of Child

It's known that eating well during pregnancy holds an abundance of health benefits for both mother and baby, but a new study has shed light on the extent to which nutrition during pregnancy can specifically affect a baby bone health. ... read more »

Amniotic Band Syndrome

In rare cases, amniotic bands become entangled around the fetus. The condition is called amniotic band syndrome. The bands can wrap around limbs, vital areas or the umbilical cord. As the fetus grows, blood flow is restricted. ... read more »

Link Between Brain Chemicals and Developmental Problems in Newborns

Scientists have discovered a new way to determine whether a preterm infant is at risk for motor development problems. ... read more »

Fasting During Ramadan Linked to Lower Birth Weight

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Human Biology, the observance of Ramadan in the Muslim faith has a negative effect on the fetus that could cause medical issues later in life. ... read more »

Cleft Lip / Cleft Palate

The term cleft lip or cleft palate refers to a birth defect that affects the upper lip and/or the roof of the mouth, known as the palate. In mild cases, the birth defect does not affect eating and can easily be repaired with simple cosmetic surgery. ... read more »

Ultrasound Safety During Pregnancy

Ultrasounds have been used for more than 50 years to take images of the human body for diagnostic use. During pregnancy, women are often given at least one ultrasound to record fetal growth, number, orientation and development. ... read more »

Preconception Zinc Deficiency Disrupts Fetal Development

A diet rich in zinc is the subject of a recent study that showed how important this mineral is before pregnancy begins. ... read more »

Healthier Babies Born After Coal Plant Closes

The closing of a coal power plant in China provided an ideal opportunity to study effects of air pollution and childhood health. Women who became pregnant after the plant closed had healthier babies. ... read more »

The Fetal Brain: Now There’s a Map for That

A grant made it possible for a large team of researchers specializing in various fields of medicine and technology to map the fetal brain as its never been done before. ... read more »

Dietary Iodine Crucial for Fetal Brain Development

A new study from Sweden reinforces the importance of adequate dietary intake of iodine during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Iodine is a mineral important to thyroid function. ... read more »

Placenta Works Like Embryonic Oxygen Tank

Professor John Aplin has discovered that the developing placenta absorbs and collects oxygen and slowly releases it into the embryo. It works as an oxygen holding tank. ... read more »

Marijuana’s Effects on the Fetal Brain

Like alcohol and tobacco, caution must be exercised during pregnancy when smoking marijuana as the developing fetus is exposed to everything its mother consumes during that time. ... read more »

Prognostic Factors for Low Birth Weight Repetition

Information collected by the Pelotas Birth Cohort was used in a recent study published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. The study reported prognostic factors doctors can look for in patients with prior low birth weight pregnancies. ... read more »

Embryonic Development May be Associated with Heart Defects

While animal studies do not always result in direct correlations with human outcomes, researchers believe chicken heart development may hold the key to a possible breakthrough in congenital heart defect development. ... read more »

Fetal Yawns Captured in 4-D

The latest ultrasound technology shows us that all this delightful activity starts long before a baby is born. Yawns, for instance, keep a baby busy during the sixth month of gestation. ... read more »

Protein Responsible for Cell-Cell Fusion Revealed

In healthy human tissues, cell-cell fusion is uncommon, but this fusion is necessary for placental development during pregnancy. Researchers have long searched for some idea or indication explaining how the body promotes cell-cell fusion during pregnancy. ... read more »

BPA Could Increase Down Syndrome Risk in Unborn Fetus

BPA, or Bisphenol A, is an ingredient in some plastics and other household items. The chemical has been in the news for more than a year thanks to several research studies proving negative side effects on the fetal level with maternal exposure. ... read more »

Neuroprotection of the Fetus with Magnesium Sulfate

Magnesium sulfate can be delivered via IV to pregnant women who are at risk of eclampsia or preterm labor. Researchers also believe the medication could prove useful as an antenatal medication to protect the fetus from brain injury ... read more »

Fatty Acids Vital to Fetal Development

Biologists have long debated why different tissues grow in the right locations in a developing embryo. A new study reveals the important role polyunsaturated fatty acids play in this process.  ... read more »

Mom’s Allergy Shots Lower Baby’s Risk

More than 50 million Americans are affected by allergy problems that include food allergies, seasonal and environmental allergies, asthma, and eczema. When a parent is allergic to something, there's a good chance his or her children will be allergic too. ... read more »

Got Milk? Get Taller Babies

Thorhallur Halldorsson says, 'There aren't many prenatal dietary orenvironmental factors identified that explain growth in children (but)milk drinking may be one.' ... read more »

Aging Begins in the Womb

In recent weeks, medical science has delivered some pretty harsh blows to the forever-young wannabes searching for the Fountain of Youth. Seems one marker of the aging process - cellular senescence - begins in the womb. ... read more »

New Study: Autism Begins in the Womb

The mystery of autism is one step closer to being solved, thanks to a meticulous study conducted by researchers in Washington and California. The team discovered that autism begins in the womb. ... read more »

Eye Development Relies on Pregnancy Light Exposure

The light women see during pregnancy may play a huge role in healthy eye development in the fetus. According to research recently published in the journal Nature, light promotes release of the protein melanopsin, but the protein is only released in the fetus. ... read more »

Human Heart Tissue Jumbled Until Late Pregnancy

Despite the fact that the first human heart beat can be detected early in the first trimester, researchers from the University of Leeds report human heart tissues remain jumbled until walls develop late in pregnancy. ... read more »

Maternal Biomarkers and Early Fetal Size

Researchers from Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands recently published a study on the impact of fetal biomarkers on first trimester fetal size. ... read more »

Vitamin D During Pregnancy Makes Kids’ Muscles Stronger

New research indicates a mother's exposure to vitamin D during pregnancy makes her children's muscles stronger. ... read more »

Respiratory Function in Children Born to Mothers with Asthma

Researchers from the Department of Medicine at the Universidade Federal de Sergipe in Brazil recently completed a study concluding that maternal asthma may increase the risk of childhood asthma in offspring. ... read more »

Folic Acid Linked to Autism Prevention

If there is one thing that drives researchers it is a medical condition with no definitive cause. Autism is one of those conditions. Though there are some medical ideas about the possible roots of some forms of autism, there has yet to be one study producing a clear, concise and definitive cause of autism. ... read more »

Lack of Oxygen In-Utero Linked to ADHD

Having the correct amount of oxygen delivered to growing organs and cells of the fetus are important to healthy fetal development, but researchers at Kaiser Permanente suggest oxygen levels are important in functional development as well. ... read more »

Mother’s Sugar Intake Triggers Fetal Brain Insulin Response

A group of German researchers have recently documented the connection between a mother's sugar intake and the brain activity of the baby she carries. ... read more »

Chemotherapy During Pregnancy: No Developmental Problem Risk

Using chemotherapy during pregnancy for the treatment of cancer comes with great concern for the health of the fetus. Researchers have recently completed a study involving a small number of children born after in-utero exposure to chemotherapy. ... read more »

1 in 6 Kids Suffers Neurodevelopmental Disorder

One in six American children suffers from a neurodevelopmental disorder, including but not limited to, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders ASD), or delays in speech and language. ... read more »

Mom’s Exercise Powers Up Baby’s Brain

The value of exercise makes headlines everywhere - on TV, on the internet, and in newspapers and in magazines. Exercise energizes us, helps us sleep better, builds stronger bones and muscles, keeps excess weight off, and helps fend off many common ailments. ... read more »

Gestational Diabetes Linked to Kidney Disease in Offspring

The work of a team of researchers revealed a link between the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children and certain maternal conditions experienced before or during pregnancy. ... read more »

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