Peering inside a mouse placental cell is a bit like looking at a fun-house mirror. Rather than the standard two copies of each chromosome (mice …
Tag: pregnancy
New drug target for treating preterm labor identified in Stanford study
Here’s one of the biggest mysteries of pregnancy: How does the uterus muscle manage to stay quiet for most of gestation, yet shift to big, …
Sleep-deprivation and stress among factors contributing to smoking relapse after childbirth
Smoking can make it more difficult to get pregnant and it can contribute to complications after conception and endanger the health of babies as they …
Maternal-fetal “chimera” cells: What do they actually do?
After a woman is pregnant, fetal cells linger in her body long after her baby is brought out into the world. They cross the placenta …
Reality TV influences perspectives on pregnancy, study shows
A new University of Cincinnati study on the influence that television programs have on pregnant women has found that most women are more affected by TV representations …
Rare African genes might reduce risks to pregnant women and their infants
When Hugo Hilton began working at Stanford as a young researcher several years ago, his supervisor set him to work on a minor problem so …
Study shows mothers receiving fertility treatments may have an elevated risk of depression
An estimated one in four couples in developing countries encounter difficulties trying to conceive. In the United States, more than 7 million women have undergone …
Stanford microbiome research offers new clues to the mystery of preterm birth
Premature birth affects 450,000 U.S. babies each year and is the leading cause of newborn deaths. But in about half of cases, doctors never figure …
“The Mama Sherpas”: Exploring the work of nurse-midwives and their collaborations with doctors
As a doula, I'm pretty tapped into the birth community, and I've definitely noticed a trend toward midwifery care and low-intervention births. Indeed, a 2012 study showed …
Women with epilepsy face elevated risk of death during pregnancy and childbirth – but why?
Women with epilepsy face a higher risk of death and a host of complications during their pregnancies than other women, according to a new study …
Scientists create a placenta-on-a-chip to safely study process and pitfalls of pregnancy
These days it seems that just about anything can be recreated on a microchip. But still, I did a double-take when I read about the new …
Study of outcomes for early preemies highlights complex choices for families and doctors
A tiny fraction of babies born at 22 weeks of gestation survive to childhood without major impairments or disabilities, according to a study recently published …
Genetic testing, autism, and “fixing” the pathological body
How do we know what is pathological, versus what is normal? It seems obvious until you start thinking philosophically, which was the goal of a …
Project aims to improve maternal and newborn health in sub-Saharan Africa
In sub-Saharan Africa, maternal and neonatal outcomes are some of the worst in the world. What would happen to those numbers if 1,000 new obstetrician/gynecologists …
New obstetric hemorrhage tool kit released today
A few years ago, when my niece was born, my sister had a severe postpartum hemorrhage. I remember getting off the phone with my mom, …
A difficult decision that saved three young lives
I first met Lily Estrada and her identical triplets almost a year ago. The three babies, who were nearly ready to go home from Lucile …