Pregnancy and Birth

“Term” delivery is defined as 39 weeks 0 days, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. For women with repeat cesareans, that timing may not result in the best outcomes, say investigators from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

New research presented at The Pregnancy Meeting™ last week in New Orleans shows that noninvasive prenatal testing can detect more than 80% of chromosomal abnormalities.

In women with late preterm hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, immediate delivery did not decrease the risk of severe adverse maternal outcomes but did increase the risk of neonatal RDS, unlike with expectant monitoring.

The effectiveness of remifentanil patient-controlled analgesia is not equivalent to that of epidural analgesia for pain relief during labor, study finds.

Obesity during pregnancy is an independent risk factor for long-term cardiovascular morbidity, and these complications tend to occur at a younger age, researchers found.

New study findings may soon help ob/gyns personalize preterm birth prevention treatments by identifying which women at higher risk for preterm birth will be helped by progesterone injections.

DNA analysis of vaginal swabs shows that cervicovaginal microbiota differs in the late second and early third trimester in women destined to have a preterm birth.

The risk of death in the first 28 days of life was roughly 4 times higher for babies delivered at home by midwives than babies delivered at a hospital by midwives, new research shows.

About 20% of premature babies who appear healthy at discharge have cerebral palsy or neurological impairment at age 2 years, suggesting that all preemies need early childhood evaluation.

After excluding chromosomal abnormalities, women 35 years and older are at decreased risk for having a child with a major congenital malformation.

With a US cesarean rate of more than 30%, strategies to lower the primary cesarean rate are needed, experts say. One simple change: avoid practices that increase the potential for unneeded first cesarean deliveries.

High body mass index (BMI) and short stature are risk factors for cesarean delivery across all racial/ethnic groups, according to a study to be presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine: The Pregnancy Meeting on February 7, 2014 in New Orleans.

A reader writes regarding the November 2013 article "The transcervical Foley balloon." Are there any data that this method of induction is connected to higher rates of umbilical cord prolapse?

The increased risk of infant persistent pulmonary hypertension from SSRI use in late pregnancy is minimal and should not deter use in women with depression.

The exposure of adolescent rats to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can alter neurobehavioral pathways in the next generation of offspring, even without direct exposure of progeny to the drug.

Text messaging appointment reminders led to more flu shots among low-income pregnant women, researchers found.

The use of text messages for appointment reminders led to more flu shots among low-income pregnant women, researchers found.

A diagnosed fear of childbirth in expectant mothers nearly tripled the risk of postpartum depression among women with no history of depression.

Higher levels of vitamin D in expectant mothers during late pregnancy was associated with improved muscle strength in children at age 4.

Changes in cardiac blood flow in embryos exposed to alcohol may lead to the formation of cardiac defects often seen in babies with fetal alcohol syndrome, study finds.

The available evidence on the benefits and risks of planned cesarean or vaginal delivery after a previous cesarean section is a poor guide for delivery decisions.

More Ob/Gyns are probably discussing sex with teenage patients than pediatricians, but a new study serves as a good reminder that physicians need to initiate these conversations.

Babies whose mothers did not gain enough weight during pregnancy are at increased risk for death within their first year of life, new study findings show.

The use of forceps and the vacuum extractor shouldn't be allowed to become a lost art.