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Maternal use of opioid analgesics just prior to, or during the first trimester of, pregnancy increases the risk for certain congenital heart defects among offspring.

Although overall impact on bone is small and depends largely on age and dose, data suggest that by about 2 years of use, teens who use oral contraceptives show about 1% less gain in bone mineral density than teens who do not use the pills.

The overall birth count and fertility rate in the US declined in 2010.

Breast cancer screening with mammography should start at age 40 years and should occur annually after this, according to new guidelines.

In women with normal thyroid function, the presence of thyroid autoantibodies is associated with a more than tripled risk for miscarriage and a doubled risk for preterm birth, according to findings of a systematic review.

The process of parturition, both term and preterm, involves a uniquely coordinated interaction between the cervix and uterus.

Two US Supreme Court rulings could have wide-reaching effects on physicians who prescribe drugs and the patients who take them.

In this letter to the editor, the author discusses how physicians have lost their ability to individualize care.

The author discusses the American Board of Medical Specialties' recognition of female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery as a subspecialty in obstetrics and gynecology.

The incidence of many types of cancer increases with increasing adult heigh, according to findings of a recent study.

Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole 480 mg once daily is more effective than cranberry capsules 500 mg twice daily for the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infection in premenopausal women, but it exacerbates the problem of emerging antibiotic resistance.

Women who have difficulty breastfeeding in the first 2 weeks after giving birth are about twice as likely to experience depression at 2 months postpartum, according to study findings.

Nearly 50% of sexually transmitted infections occur in adolescents and young adults between 15 and 24 years of age.

A Pennsylvania woman pregnant with twins went to a hospital for induction of labor at term. Her infant was born, having a seizure 2 hours after birth. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and is now fed via tube.

An advisory panel to the CDC recommends that physicians administer the tetanus diphtheria acellular pertussis vaccine to pregnant women after 20 weeks' gestation.

Long-term use of high doses of fluconazole during pregnancy may be associated with birth defects, according to the FDA.

Current cigarette smokers have a higher risk of bladder cancer than previously reported, and the risk in women is comparable to that in men, say the authors of a study from the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.

"Ovarian inclusion cysts found by ultrasonography in postmenopausal women don?t necessarily mean that the women will develop ovarian, breast, or endometrial cancer, a British study reports. "

New recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) urge placing inflatable compression devices on the legs of women undergoing cesarean delivery to prevent thromboembolism and reduce maternal mortality. Practice Bulletin #123, published in Obstetrics and Gynecology (2011; 118[3]:718-729), updates guidelines on preventing, managing, and treating thromboembolism during pregnancy.

Women who take multivitamins regularly around the time they become pregnant may have a lower risk of premature labor and giving birth to small-for-gestational-age (SGA) babies, a study of 35,897 women in the Danish National Birth Cohort suggests.

Women who smoke or who have smoked are more likely to experience bladder symptoms of urgency and frequency than women who have never smoked, according to a new study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology (2011;118[3]:643-648).

Asherman’s Syndrome is an extremely common and occasionally complicated disease entity. It takes many forms and can follow a routine D&C, a hysteroscopy, a delivery or even a surgical procedure such as a myomectomy or polypectomy. This case study from Dr. Alan Copperman reviews diagnosis and treatment options.

Compared to healthy women, the researchers found significantly higher serum mesothelin antigen levels in women with ovarian cancer, benign conditions, and unexplained infertility. Luborsky and colleagues further noted that mesothelin antibodies had a higher affinity in the infertility groups, especially premature ovarian failure and ovulatory dysfunction, than that in the healthy, benign, or ovarian cancer groups. Specifically, they found significantly higher positive sera in women with premature ovarian failure and ovulatory dysfunction as compared to normal sera.

A recent study by Katherine Roland and colleagues from the CDC has found that a majority doctors are still recommending yearly Pap tests to screen for cervical cancer.

Traditional open gynecologic surgery using a large incision for access to the uterus and surrounding anatomy has for many years been the standard approach to many gynecologic procedures. Yet, with open surgery can come significant pain, trauma, a long recovery process, risk of adhesions, risk of incision breakdown, and threat to surrounding organs and nerves. For women facing gynecologic surgery, the period of pain, discomfort, and extended time away from normal daily activities that usually follows traditional surgery can understandably cause significant anxiety.

Neena Agarwala, MD, MSc, FACOG, performs an endometriosis excision using robotic surgery.

Neena Agarwala, MD, Msc, FACOG performs a robotic supracervical hysterectomy on a 20-week uterus.

Neena Agarwala, MD, Msc, FACOG performs robotic hysterectomy in a patient with a large uterus.