Impact Of Buggies On Parent-Infant Interaction InvestigatedA groundbreaking study being presented on 22nd November at the British Psychological Society Scotland's Annual Conference suggests the orientation of a baby's buggy impacts on mother-baby interaction, infant stress levels and ultimately child development. Contemporary design of buggies allows the baby to either face towards or away from their parent.
Aquarobics For Pregnant Women Makes For A Less Painful DeliveryA course of water aerobics classes has been shown to reduce the amount of pain-killing medication women request during labor. Research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Reproductive Health has shown that, as well as being safe, the gentle exercise has the benefit of making it easier to give birth.
A Key Question For The Uterine Muscles In Pregnancy: To Contract Or NotDuring pregnancy, the muscles of the uterus are relatively inactive. A switch to an activated state capable of strong contractions is therefore essential prior to the onset of labor. Kathleen Martin and colleagues, at Dartmouth Medical School, Lebanon, have now provided new insight into the events that prime the uterine muscles for contraction, something that they hope might have implications for the development of therapies for preterm labor (i.e.
Some Pregnancy-Related Complications Minimized For Women Who Have Had Weight-Loss SurgeryWomen who undergo weight-loss surgery, known as bariatric surgery, and later become pregnant after losing weight may be at lower risk for pregnancy-related diabetes and high blood pressure-- complications that can seriously affect the mother or her baby--than pregnant women who are obese, according to new findings from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality that are published in the November 19 issue of JAMA.
Prenatal Diagnosis Improved By Microarray AnalysisA "chip" or array that can quickly detect disorders such as Down syndrome or other diseases associated with chromosomal abnormalities proved an effective tool in prenatal diagnosis in a series of 300 cases at Baylor College of Medicine, said researchers in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Prenatal Diagnosis. In the report, a team led by Dr. Arthur Beaudet and Dr.
Assisted Reproduction Linked To Higher Birth Defects A nationwide US study found that babies conceived with Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) were between 2 and 4 times more likely to be born with certain defects than babies conceived naturally. The study was conducted by researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and was published early online in the journal Human Reproduction on 16 November.
First Ovary Transplant Woman Gives Birth A 39-year old woman who had the world's first whole ovary transplant gave birth to a healthy daughter in a private London hospital last week after undergoing pioneering new treatment developed in the US that allowed her to receive an ovary donated by her twin sister and then conceive naturally, according to a BBC News report.
Luteal Phase Bleeding Does Not Accurately Predict Ongoing Pregnancy In IVFResearchers from Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston today presented data demonstrating that women undergoing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and using either vaginally-administered progesterone gel (CRINONE® 8%) or progesterone injected intramuscularly for luteal phase supplementation, reported no difference in ongoing pregnancy rates when they experienced luteal phase bleeding (LPB). LPB is defined as any bleeding or spotting between embryo transfer and first pregnancy test.
Effects Of Cocaine Use On Mother-Infant Relationships Studied By UNC, Yale PartnershipResearchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Yale University have been awarded almost $10 million to study the many ways cocaine use during pregnancy can negatively affect interactions between mothers and their infants. The project's researchers hope their findings will aid the development of new intervention strategies for helping both mothers and children, and prove valuable to others working in fields such as drug abuse and developmental disorders.
Clues To Human Development From Prehistoric PelvisDiscovery of the most intact female pelvis of Homo erectus may cause scientists to reevaluate how early humans evolved to successfully birth larger-brained babies. "This is the most complete female Homo erectus pelvis ever found from this time period," said Indiana University Bloomington paleoanthropologist Sileshi Semaw. "This discovery gives us more accurate information about the Homo erectus female pelvic inlet and therefore the size of their newborns.
Diabetes And Pelvic Girdle SyndromeDiabetes appears to be linked with an increased risk of pelvic girdle syndrome. This is shown in a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Akershus University Hospital. The study showed that five percent of women had had serious pelvic girdle syndrome (pain in both iliosacral ligaments and symphysis pubis) during their last pregnancy. Three percent of these women reported that they had diabetes, while diabetes was seen in only 0.