Science Daily

More than one-third of mothers and about one-fifth of fathers in the United Kingdom appear to experience an episode of depression between their child's birth and 12th year of age, with the highest rates in the first year after birth, according to a new article.

An analysis of data from Denmark finds no associated increased risk of major birth defects for mothers who were exposed during the first trimester of pregnancy to the antiviral drugs acyclovir, valacyclovir and famciclovir, often used to treat herpes simplex and herpes zoster infections, according to a new study.

A new study by epidemiologists has found that women who took over-the-counter decongestants during their pregnancies are less likely to give birth prematurely.

Specifically asking young women during visits to family planning clinics whether their partners had attempted to force them to become pregnant -- a type of intimate-partner violence called reproductive coercion -- dramatically reduced the likelihood that the women would continue to experience such pressures, according to a new pilot study.

A new study finds that exposure of pregnant female mice to the endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A may produce adverse reproductive consequences on gene expression in fetal ovaries as early as 12 hours after the mother has first been exposed to the chemical.

Meconium, the dark and tarry stools passed by a baby during the first few days after birth, can be used to determine how much the mother smoked, or if she was exposed to tobacco smoke during pregnancy. Researchers measured tobacco smoke metabolites in meconium samples from 337 babies, finding that they correlated well with reported smoke exposure and other markers of tobacco smoke exposure.

Mothers who did not breastfeed their children have significantly higher rates of type 2 diabetes later in life than moms who breastfed, a new study finds. Twenty-seven percent of mothers who did not breastfeed developed type 2 diabetes and were almost twice as likely to develop the disease as women who had breastfed or never given birth.

Clinical depression and anxiety during pregnancy results in smaller babies that are more likely to die in infancy, according to new research. The study, which focused on women living in rural Bangladesh, provides the first finding of its kind in a non-Western population. The research indicates that mental health issues are likely to be a primary contributor to infant mortality and poor child health, above poverty, malnutrition or low socio-economic status.

Children who were exposed to organophosphate pesticides before birth were more likely to develop attention disorders years later, according to a new study. Researchers linked higher maternal concentrations of pesticide metabolites during pregnancy to greater odds of attention problems in children at age 5. The study adds to a growing body of evidence that organophosphate pesticide exposure can impact human health.

Healthy women trying for a baby may have reduced chances of becoming pregnant in any month if they are stressed, the results of a study suggest.

The first study to compare the effectiveness of the birth control pill in women with marked weight differences has found that the pill works equally well in women with obesity and thinner women. This new finding by physician-scientists refutes a long-held conviction among many doctors that the pill may not reliably prevent pregnancy in women who are overweight or obese.

Physical abuse and maltreatment by in-laws is not uncommon among pregnant and postpartum women in India, and may be compromising maternal and child health, according to a new study.

Psychologists have found that exposure during pregnancy to certain immune proteins, such as those produced in response to the flu, leads to increased risk for brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia in offspring.

Scientists and fertility doctors have long tried to figure out what makes a good egg that will produce a healthy embryo. It's a critical to know which eggs isolated from a woman will produce the best embryos and ultimately babies. New research reveals eggs need a tremendous dose of zinc to reach maturity and be ready for fertilization -- a finding that may ultimately help physicians assess the best eggs for fertility treatment.

Women who conceive within six months of an initial miscarriage have the best chance of having a healthy pregnancy with the lowest complication rates, according to new research.

A large population-based study looks at two or more pregnancies in the same mother and provides evidence that excess maternal weight gain is a strong, independent predictor of high birth weight.

Malfunction of a protein has been linked to a form of mental retardation that affects up to one out of every 500 males, according to new research.

In one of the first human studies of its kind, researchers have found that urinary concentrations of the controversial chemical Bisphenol A, or BPA, may be related to decreased sperm quality and sperm concentration.

A community-based maternal health delivery strategy known as the MOM Project (mobile obstetric medics) dramatically increased access to maternal health care services for internally displaced woman in eastern Burma, according to a new study. Among the findings, the study showed a ten-fold increase in the proportion of women assisted at delivery by workers skilled in providing emergency obstetric care, including preventing and treating hemorrhage, injectable antibiotics and anticonvulsants, and community-based blood transfusion.

It takes a village to keep a pregnant woman at her healthiest, a new study shows. The study compared African American and European American women and women of lower and higher socioeconomic status to see what effects communalism, or a strong sense of community, had on African American women and women of lower socioeconomic status.