Health & Pregnancy

Tools & Resources

News Related to Health & Pregnancy

Many Pregnant Women Fear Exercising

May 10, 2012 -- Are you pregnant and afraid to exercise? Though exercise during pregnancy has proven benefits for healthy women, many still fear it, according to a new study. "Despite what we have said over the last 10 years, pregnant women are still afraid exercise is going to hurt their child," sa
Read Full Article
About 20% of White Women Smoke While Pregnant

May 10, 2012 -- White women who are pregnant are more likely to smoke cigarettes than African-American or Hispanic mothers-to-be, a new government report shows. The study found that pregnant white women had high rates of cigarette smoking at 21.8% compared with 14.2% among African-American women and
Read Full Article
Pregnancy After 40: Healthy Weight Improves Risk

May 9, 2012 -- Pregnancy after 40 does carry more risks, but being at a healthy weight before getting pregnant seems to modify those risks, new research suggests. "If you are healthy, over 40, and not obese, your risks of pregnancy complications are certainly less than an obese 40-year-old," says re
Read Full Article
U.S. Ranks 131st in Preterm Births

May 2, 2012 -- Preterm birth rates are higher in the United States than in 130 other countries, including many poorer nations, according to a new report from the March of Dimes Foundation, the World Health Organization, and other leading health agencies. The report, which provides the first-ever est
Read Full Article
New Earlier, Noninvasive Paternity Test Developed

May 2, 2012 -- Researchers say they've found a way to identify the father of a baby as early as the eighth week of pregnancy. The new method, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, uses fetal DNA isolated from the mother's blood. The test has already been used to prove an affair in a murde
Read Full Article
One Baby per Hour Born Drug Dependent

April 30, 2012 -- The number of U.S. babies born dependent on drugs nearly tripled between 2000 and 2009, researchers reported today. Drug dependence occurs when a person develops a physical dependence on a drug, leading to withdrawal symptoms if the drug is abruptly stopped. Newborns can be drug de
Read Full Article
Prenatal Pesticide Exposure May Harm Kids' Brains

April 30, 2012 -- Prenatal exposure to a pesticide used on many crops may be linked with abnormal changes in a child's developing brain, scientists report. Compared to children with low prenatal exposure, those with high exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos had abnormalities in the cortex (the out
Read Full Article
Children Born to Unmarried Couples on the Rise

April 12, 2012 -- Over the last decade, while many fertility trends have remained stable in the U.S., one definitely has not:�the number of first births among unmarried couples who were living together. Among women ages 15 to 44, that figure has risen from 12% of first births in 2002 to 22% between
Read Full Article
Women Have Longer Labors Now

March 30, 2012 -- Women giving birth can expect to have longer labors than women did 50 years ago, according to a new analysis by National Institutes of Health researchers. For first-time mothers, the first stage of labor has increased by 2.6 hours, says Katherine Laughon, MD, a researcher at the Eu
Read Full Article
Trying to Get Pregnant? Moderate Exercise May Help

March 15, 2012 -- If you’re trying to get pregnant, adding a brisk walk to your daily routine may help -- but you may want to hold off training for that marathon. Moderate physical activity was found to benefit women of all body types in a new study examining the impact of exercise on fertility, whi
Read Full Article