Health News

Indoor Air Pollution Is a Major Culprit in Preterm Births

Scientists have long known that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy increases risks for preterm birthor low birth weight. New findings suggest that pollution exposures are higher in low- and middle-income countries and especially from indoor sources. In 2019, for example, about half the world’s population breathed household air pollution from cooking fires. In addition, […]

Health News

Jury Out on PIGF Testing for Suspected Pre-eclampsia

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – The addition of placental growth factor (PlGF) measurement to usual care of women with suspected pre-eclampsia does not improve maternal or neonatal outcomes, according to results of PARROT Ireland, the largest multicenter randomized controlled trial of PlGF-based testing for women with suspected pre-eclampsia to date. “Given the lack of maternal […]

Health News

‘Munchausen by Internet’ Crises a Warning for All HCPs

A new study documents a handful of cases of women with Munchausen syndrome by internet who targeted doulas in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 lockdown. The women pretended to have a variety of dramatic perinatal crises that garnered them significant attention from birth support professionals. The five cases were investigated by Kathryn V. J. […]

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Visits to crisis pregnancy centers common in Ohio

An estimated one in seven Ohio women of adult reproductive age has visited a crisis pregnancy center, a new study has found. In a survey of 2,529 women, almost 14% said they’d ever attended a center. The prevalence was more than twice as high among Black women and 1.6 times as high among those in […]

Health News

55 New Chemicals Found in Pregnant Women, Their Newborns

Fifty-five chemicals never before reported in humans were found in pregnant women, according to a study from the University of California San Francisco. The chemicals likely come from consumer products or industrial sources, researchers say. Findings were published online in Environmental Science and Technology. Co-first authors Aolin Wang, PhD, and Dimitri Panagopoulos Abrahamsson, PhD, postdoctoral […]