Pregnancy and Birth

This is the case of a pregnancy at 12 weeks gestational age. The patient underwent routine prenatal transabdominal and transvaginal ultrasound imaging.

Omission of the bladder flap in cesarean deliveries does not increase intraoperative or postoperative complications, according to results of a new randomized controlled trial.

Test your diagnostic skills. What is your diagnosis of these endocavity scans?

In anovulatory women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one-time use of progestin to induce withdrawal bleeding before ovulation induction may decrease the odds of conception and live birth, according to a new study conducted by researchers for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIHCD) Cooperative Reproductive Medicine Network (RMN).

Whether a woman is overweight or obese before and during pregnancy, and not glucose levels, is the most reliable predictor of a woman’s risk of giving birth to a large-for-gestational-age infant, according to a new study conducted in Canada.

These ultrasound images show a right ovarian lesion.

Proper weight management during pregnancy is beneficial to both the mother and the fetus. Overweight women are at an increased risk for gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, preterm birth and intrauterine death.

The use of the anti-HIV drug tenofovir during pregnancy does not affect birth weight or birth length, according to new research conducted as part of the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study. The impetus for this study was that previous research in laboratory animals showed that exposure to tenofovir in the womb was associated with smaller birth size compared with animals not exposed to the drug.

Dietary and lifestyle interventions in pregnancy can reduce maternal gestational weight gain and improve outcomes for both mother and baby, according to a new study. In Europe and the United States, 20% to 40% of women gain more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy.

Elective induction of labor between 37 and 41 weeks of gestation can lower perinatal mortality rates in developed countries without increasing the risk of cesarean deliveries, according to a new study conducted in Scotland.

Do age, race, or other demographics influence postpartum IUD compliance? The results of this retrospective chart review were presented at ACOG's Annual Clinical Meeting.

This study, presented at a poster session at ACOG's Annual Clinical Meeting, examined 228 cases of manual extraction of the placenta to determine whether prophylactic antibiotics reduced the incidence of endometritis.

These are ultrasound images of an early pregnancy.

Several recent studies have shown that the addition of secondary ultrasound markers to the combined first-trimester screening for aneuploidies, or chromosomal abnormalities such as trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) and trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), can slightly improve screening accuracy.

A study presented at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Annual Clinical Meeting indicates that as birth weight increases, progression in labor is slower in both successful trial of labor and patients who ultimately have cesarean deliveries.

A new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, which was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was used to distinguish specific types of Toxoplasma gondii parasite that children acquired in the womb from their acutely infected mothers.

A jury recently awarded 78.5 million in a birth injury case.

There are multiple anomalies in these ultrasound images of a second trimester pregnancy.

Typically used for long-term contraception, the intrauterine device (IUD) is also an effective emergency contraceptive if implanted after unprotected sex. Two IUDs, which are T-shaped pieces of plastic, are available in the United States.

Two studies focusing on birth defects and fertility treatment techniques recently have been published. The finding of both studies show that certain fertility treatments are associated with increased risks of birth defects, but neither study revealed why this association occurs.

Women with opioid dependence who become pregnant are at risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes and perinatal complications.

A recent article published in the BMJ compared elective induction with expectant management.

What is your diagnosis of this 36 week old fetus with cardiomegaly?

Results of a new study conducted in The Netherlands found that children born post-term are at increased risk for behavioral and emotional problems, particularly attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

A study that examined trends in timing of non-medically necessary elective delivery and NICU utilization indicates that the older the gestational age of the infant, the less the NICU is utilized.