News and Features Related to Health & Pregnancy

U.S. Gets 'D' in Preterm Birth Report Card

Nov. 17, 2009 -- Seven states improved their grades and two dropped a letter to "F" in the 2009 March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card, in which the U.S. as a whole earned a "D" for the second straight year, a new report says. Idaho, Utah, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts improved their grades from
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Revamp Your Pregnancy Beauty Regimen

You swore off cocktails and stopped eating sushi when you found out you're pregnant, but you hadn't considered the safety of your beauty products until you accidentally inhaled some hair spray this morning. Now you're wondering if you should change some of your beauty habits for the rest of your pre
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Preemies Raise U.S. Infant Mortality Rate

Nov. 3, 2009 -- The high percentage of preterm babies is the main cause of the high infant mortality rate in the U.S., the CDC says in a new report. The U.S. “does a good job of saving babies when they are born preterm,” Marian F. MacDorman, PhD, of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, t
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Progress in Quest for Group B Strep Vaccine

Oct. 30, 2009 (Philadelphia) -- Researchers are a step closer to developing a vaccine to protect pregnant women against a serious bacterial infection that is a leading cause of death and disability in newborns. The bug is called group B streptococcus, more commonly referred to as group B strep. Preg
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Artificial Insemination Works Better This Way

Oct. 30, 2009 -- Women undergoing artificial insemination who lie on their backs for 15 minutes after the procedure may increase their chances of getting pregnant, according to a new study. During the procedure, officially called intrauterine insemination, the male’s sperm is inseminated into the ut
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Cord Blood Banking: A Wise Investment?

Peggy and Brett Willie’s son was just 7 years old when he was diagnosed with lymphoma. Chemotherapy “dissolved” the stage 3 tumor, Peggy says, “but it’s hard to say what the future will bring.” So when she became pregnant with her third child two years ago, the couple stored his umbilical cord blood
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Cord Blood Stem Cells: Your Questions Answered

Stem cells are immature cells that can transform into other kinds of cells and reproduce themselves. Cord blood stem cells are collected in the umbilical cord at birth and can produce all of the blood cells in the body. Cord blood stem cells can be used to treat blood-related diseases, such as leuke
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Obese Women Retain More Pregnancy Weight

Oct. 21, 2009 -- Gaining no weight during pregnancy or even losing a little weight may be healthier for obese women and their babies than gaining too much weight. In research made public today, the investigators from Kaiser Permanente confirmed that obese women who gain more weight than they should
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U.S. Pregnancy Rate Is Dropping

Oct. 14, 2009 -- The U.S. pregnancy rate dropped by 11% from 1990 to 2005, a new CDC report shows. According to that report, there were an estimated 6.4 million pregnancies in the U.S. in 2005, which works out to a rate of 103.2 pregnancies per 1,000 women ages 15-44, compared to a rate of 115.8 pre
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Get a Head Start on a Healthy Pregnancy

For women who want to rid their bodies and homes of toxins before pregnancy, there’s no shortage of dos and don’ts floating around. In fact, the list can seem overwhelming. So what are the best things you can do to stay healthy and make sure your children will be protected from environmental toxins
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