The period from conception to birth. After the egg is fertilized by a sperm and then implanted in the lining of the uterus, it develops into the placenta and embryo, and later into a fetus. Pregnancy usually lasts 40 weeks, beginning from the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period, and is divided into three trimesters, each lasting three months.
Coffee and tea during pregnancy affect fetal growth – Drinking just two cups of coffee a day is associated with the risk of low birth weight. Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have conducted a study on 59,000 women in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Maternal obesity increases the risk of frequent wheezing in offspring — Tobacco and excess weight: 2 factors linked to asthma in babies – The fact that excess weight during pregnancy has negative consequences is not new information. A new study now concludes that the children of mothers obese before falling pregnant are four times more likely to have frequent wheezing, which is one of the symptoms of asthma, compared to the children of mothers weighing a normal weight.
U of M researchers find wide variation in cesarean delivery rates among US hospitals – Cesarean delivery is the most common surgery in the United States, performed on 1.67 million American women annually. The latest study, appearing in Health Affairs, shows that cesarean delivery rates varied tenfold across U.S. hospitals, from 7.1 percent to 69.9 percent.
Folic acid supplements early in pregnancy may reduce child’s risk of autism by 40 percent — Large study in Norway finds early timing of folic acid supplements is critical – Prenatal folic acid supplements appear to reduce the risk for autistic spectrum disorders. It is estimated that about 1 in 88 children in the U.S. have been identified with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
More mothers are breastfeeding — African American mothers need more support – Percentage of mothers who start and continue breastfeeding is rising, says Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). From 2000 to 2008, mothers who started breastfeeding increased more than 4 percentage points. During that same time, the number of mothers still breastfeeding at six months jumped nearly 10 percentage points, from 35 percent in 2000 to nearly 45 percent in 2008.
Preterm birth can be prevented with a few proven treatments, Lancet article say – Lowering preterm birth rates by an average of 5 percent across 39 high-resource countries, including the United States, by 2015 would prevent prematurity for 58,000 babies a year. In the Lancet, the expert group says prevention of preterm birth could save billions in economic costs.
Most pregnancy-related infections are caused by four treatable conditions – In low-and-middle income countries, pregnancy-related infections are a major cause of maternal death, can also be fatal to unborn and newborn babies, and are mostly caused by four types of conditions that are treatable and preventable, according to a review by US researchers published in this week’s PLOS Medicine.
Child-free women feel intense pressure to have kids — but rarely stress over it — New study uncovers effects of social pressure to have children on different groups of US women – Women who choose to be permanently childfree perceive more social pressures to become mothers than other women, but feel less distress about not having kids than women who are childless from infertility or other reasons, a new national study shows.
Mom’s high blood pressure in pregnancy could affect child’s IQ in old age – New research suggests that a mother’s high blood pressure during pregnancy may have an effect on her child’s thinking skills all the way into old age. The study is published in the Neurology.
Low birth weight may increase risk for cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and diabetes — New research in The FASEB Journal suggests that poor high blood pressure management during pregnancy may have negative long-term health consequences for offspring – Being underweight at birth may have consequences above and beyond the known short-term effects says a research report. The report shows that rats with a low birth weight have an increased long-term risk for developing cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and diabetes.
