Pregnancy and Birth

Get caught up with Contemporary OB/GYN! This list helps you navigate our top stories from the week, all in one place.

Mark N. Simon, MD, MMM, discusses the clinical risks tied to maternity care deserts and longer travel times following new March of Dimes data.

Included are statements from SMFM, ACOG, and the AAP.

One in 3 counties in the United States remain maternity care deserts as 96 L&D closures compound access gaps, per March of Dimes.

Get caught up with Contemporary OB/GYN! This list helps you navigate our top stories from the week, all in one place.

A University of Michigan pilot study, discussed here by lead researcher Alex F. Peahl, MD, MSc, found patient-operated remote ultrasonography feasible for completing biophysical profiles in high-risk pregnancies.

One in 3 FQHCs lack on-site prenatal care, with gaps concentrated in maternity deserts, a national study finds.

A cohort study of 15,382 mother-infant dyads found that subfecundity was independently associated with elevated autism spectrum disorder odds and behavioral problem scores in offspring, while IVF treatment showed no significant neurodevelopmental associations.

Corresponding author Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, MD, MS, says late preterm hypoglycemia did not adversely affect neurodevelopment.

ACOG warns that CMS’ proposed G-codes for 2027 would create a dual maternity billing system, worsening disparities while increasing confusion.

New York’s Safe Motherhood Initiative bundle coincided with drops in SMM, DIC, and hysterectomy after postpartum hemorrhage.

Get caught up with Contemporary OB/GYN! This list helps you navigate our top stories from the week, all in one place.

CDC data show 15.2% of US pregnant women reported current alcohol use in 2021-2024, up from 13.5% in 2018-2020.

IGFBP4/SHBG screen-guided care cut NICU admissions from 16.4% to 12.8% in nulliparous PRIME trial participants.

Alcohol use increased from 8% to 44% postpartum among pregnant people with HIV, with distinct risk factors identified for alcohol vs cannabis use.

The phase 4 study's oversampling of moderate PPD patients, showing a nearly 9-point EPDS drop by day 15, helps close a gap left by trials that enrolled predominantly severe cases.

Roshni Koli, MD, describes how embedding mental health care within the ob-gyn setting drove high engagement and rapid symptom remission in a perinatal collaborative care study.

A large Korean birth cohort found a modest relative increase in pediatric IBD and Crohn disease risk after prenatal PPI/H2RA exposure, but absolute risk differences were under 1 case per 1000 children.

A retrospective study found that a tech-enabled perinatal collaborative care program delivered within an OB/GYN practice was associated with reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms.

Maegan Ashworth Dirac, MD, PhD, explains how COVID-19 infection risk and low vaccine uptake among pregnant women contributed to a rise in indirect maternal deaths worldwide.

A qualitative sub-study of the COMPASS+ Trial published in Pregnancy found that the Collaborative Care Model is well suited to obstetric settings but requires context-specific adaptation to overcome multilevel barriers.

A new meta-analysis found that third trimester TVCL surveillance in asymptomatic women was predictive of spontaneous preterm birth.

In a phase 4 real-world study of 191 participants, zuranolone reduced EPDS scores across all baseline PPD severities by day 15, with improvements sustained through day 45.

A recap of the top-performing, most-viewed Contemporary OB/GYN stories from June 2026, including new SMFM guidance on acetaminophen in pregnancy, ACOG's break from federal vaccine recommendations, and our coverage of SLEEP 2026 in Baltimore.

A single-center retrospective cohort study published in Pregnancy found that antibiotic administration after previable PPROM was associated with a 14.7-day increase in latency, along with higher rates of delivery beyond 22 0/7 weeks, lower intrauterine fetal demise, and improved neonatal survival to discharge.