News Related to Health & Pregnancy

Breastfeeding Cuts Metabolic Syndrome

June 8, 2009 -- Women who breastfeed their babies may be less likely to develop metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors that makes heart disease and diabetes more likely. So say researchers who studied data from a study of 1,390 women who were followed for 20 years, starting when they were 18-
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Pregnancy: No Weight Gain for Obese Women?

June 2, 2009 -- Women who are obese when they become pregnant may not need to gain weight during pregnancy, as long as they and their doctors focus on healthy eating, a new study shows. "The take-home message is that you can eat well during your pregnancy without overeating, and pregnancy should not
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Pregnancy Weight Gain: New Guidelines

May 28, 2009 -- Pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant? Then you need to know about new guidelines on how much weight to gain during pregnancy. Those new guidelines were issued today by an Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee of doctors, nutrition experts, and public health researchers. It's t
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Unmarried Births Rise in U.S, Europe

May 13, 2009 -- Having a baby outside of marriage has become a lot more common in the U.S. in recent years, but it's even more common in other countries, according to the CDC. A new CDC report, released today, tracks out-of-wedlock births in the U.S., 12 European countries, and Japan. Here's how tho
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Air Pollution May Lead to Smaller Babies

March 9, 2009 -- Exposure to air pollution both early and late in pregnancy may have a negative impact on fetal growth, a new study shows. Air pollution, especially pollution from car exhaust, was linked to smaller birth weight in the newly published study even after researchers controlled for known
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Do Pesticides Make Birth Defects Crop Up?

March 27, 2009 -- New research shows that babies conceived in the spring and early summer have a higher risk for a wide range of birth defects, including Down syndrome, cleft palate, and spina bifida. The reported increase in birth defects was modest, but it coincided with a similar spike in groundw
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U.S. Births Hit Record High

March 18, 2009 -- More than 4.3 million babies were born in the U.S. in 2007, the highest number ever registered by the CDC. That's according to the CDC's preliminary data on 2007 births. The new CDC birth statistics show a rise in the birth rate for women 15-44, new records for births to unmarried
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Older Fathers, Lower IQ in Kids?

March 9, 2009 -- Children born to older fathers don't perform as well on tests of thinking skills during infancy and early childhood, while those born to older mothers have higher scores on the same tests, a study shows. This latest study follows previous research showing a link between older father
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Birth Defects Linked to Low Vitamin B12

March 2, 2009 -- Women who don't get enough vitamin B12 may have a higher risk of giving birth to a baby with a potentially disabling or fatal birth defect. A new study shows that women with vitamin B12 deficiency in early pregnancy were up to five times more likely to have a child with neural tube
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Obesity Carries Pregnancy Risks

Feb. 10, 2009 -- Women who are obese during pregnancy have a higher risk than normal-weight women of having babies with certain birth defects, including neural tube defects such as spina bifida, heart problems, and cleft palate and lip, according to a new review. "It is important to note that birth
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