http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Women with pre-eclampsia are at a higher risk of complications following delivery and should continue to be monitored for up to 72 hours, suggests a new review published today in The Obstetrician and Gynaecologist (TOG). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-women-pre-eclampsia-higher-complications-childbirth.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:00:08 EST news277056018 (HealthDay)—Chronic pain from childbirth is rare and biologic changes after a woman gives birth may prevent the development of pain after birth, according to two new studies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-hormone-aid-women-recovery-childbirth.html Medical research Thu, 03 Jan 2013 18:00:02 EST news276455222 Couples who adopt after unsuccessful IVF treatment have a better quality of life than both childless couples and couples without fertility problems, reveals a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-good-quality-life-couples.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Mon, 12 Nov 2012 09:55:07 EST news271936391 The European Commission on Thursday pledged 42 million euros to Liberia's president and Nobel peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to help halve one of the world's highest maternal mortality rates. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-eu-liberia-mn-euros-maternal.html Health Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:24:47 EST news271603472 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday gave South Africa greater control over its AIDS programme, which Washington has spent $3.2 billion ramping up over the last eight years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-clinton-aids-south-africa.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 08 Aug 2012 10:24:27 EST news263640259 About 117,000 babies were saved from HIV infection last year under South Africa's scheme to prevent mothers from passing on the disease during childbirth, health official said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-south-africa-success-newborns-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:57:46 EST news261914258 Contraceptive use saves the lives of more than a quarter of million women each year, either from death in childbirth or unsafe abortions, according to estimates published on Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-contraception-year.html Health Tue, 10 Jul 2012 05:30:06 EST news261116289 Women who have a fear of childbirth spend longer in labour than women who have no such fear, suggests new research published today (27 June) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-women-childbirth-longer-labor.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:00:01 EST news259947658 (HealthDay) -- First-time mothers in their early 30s and beyond are more likely to experience psychological distress during pregnancy and after birth than younger women, but only if they have a history of depression, according to a study published online June 18 in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-older-mothers-prone-psychological-distress.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:31:32 EST news259947083 Hawa Kollie lies on her back screaming in pain, her head throbbing and body aching after the loss of first her baby, and then her uterus. Like many Liberian women, she got to the hospital too late. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-pregnancy-death-sentence-liberian-women.html Health Tue, 05 Jun 2012 04:00:01 EST news258085873 One-year-old Katakane laughs and coos in the arms of her HIV-positive mother as a doctor tries to examine her at South Africa's largest public hospital, in Soweto township. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-aids-treatment-safrica-baby-infections.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 31 May 2012 05:00:01 EST news257657315 Boston, MA ─ A new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) found that a simple checklist-based childbirth safety program dramatically improved adherence to essential childbirth care practices at a pilot hospital in south India. Of 29 practices measured, 28 were improved after adoption of the checklist and overall adherence to essential practices was 150% better after the checklist was introduced. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-simple-low-cost-checklist-health-workers.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:05 EST news256405478 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at Warwick Medical School have discovered a way of identifying which women are most at risk of postnatal depression (PND) by checking for specific genetic variants. The findings could lead to the development of a simple, accurate blood test which checks for the likelihood of developing the condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-blood-women-postnatal-depression.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 10 May 2012 06:40:54 EST news255850835 In this week's PLoS Medicine, the PLoS Medicine editors discuss new research studies on the risks associated with mode of childbirth following caesarean section. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mode-childbirth-cesarean-section-women.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 27 Mar 2012 17:00:04 EST news252083513 (Medical Xpress) -- Twenty-nine pregnant women with a history of psychotic symptoms after previous deliveries, but not at other times, all remained stable without medication throughout their current pregnancies. Those who then began taking lithium or an antipsychotic within hours after delivery remained free of relapse after childbirth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-treatment-pregnant-women-high-postpartum.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 09 Mar 2012 08:40:56 EST news250504800 About 1000 women die each day in childbirth or from preventable complications related to pregnancy, humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-women-day-die-childbirth-msf.html Health Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:30:02 EST news250426718 An Adelaide ultrasound device is set to reduce invasive treatments for women after childbirth, thanks to a collaboration arranged by the Flinders University-based Medical Device Partnering Program (MDPP). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-trials-ultrasound-device.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 06 Mar 2012 09:50:04 EST news250249788 A major register study from Karolinska Institutet shows that children born to certain groups of immigrants had an increased risk of developing autism with intellectual disability. The study includes all children in Stockholm County from 2001 to 2007, and brings the question of the heredity of autism to the fore. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-higher-autism-immigrant-groups.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:03:07 EST news249206576 The impact of unsafe water and sanitation on the death rates of children under five and mothers in the year after childbirth has been quantified for the first time by Canadian-based researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-quantifies-impact-unsafe-poor-sanitation.html Health Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:40:01 EST news248501729 Experiencing a psychiatric episode within the first 30 days post-partum appears to be associated with an increased risk of developing bipolar affective disorder, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-post-partum-psychiatric-episodes-linked-bipolar.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:56:59 EST news242325737 Newly developed computer software combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a fetus may help physicians better assess a woman's potential for a difficult childbirth. Results of a study using the new software were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-virtual-childbirth-simulator-safety-high-risk.html Health Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:46:19 EST news241753512 (Medical Xpress) -- The result of a major study comparing two methods of maternity care, commissioned by the HSE and conducted by the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, has been published recently in the journal BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-maternity-published.html Health Fri, 18 Nov 2011 13:43:36 EST news240846171 (Medical Xpress) -- Unusual features of the human placenta may be the underlying cause of postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal deaths during childbirth, according to evolutionary research at the University of Illinois at Chicago. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-evolution-clues-death-childbirth.html Medical research Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:09:55 EST news239436575 Poor sleep quality in both early and late pregnancy has been linked to an increased risk of delivering preterm. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-poor-quality-trimesters-linked-preterm.html Health Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:29:09 EST news239340531 A new study published in the international journal Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica (AOGS) reveals that fear of childbirth is a predisposing factor for emergency and elective cesarean sections, even after psychological counseling. This may mean a negative experience that lasts a lifetime among the approximately 3% of women who in this study were estimated to suffer from excessive fear of childbirth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-childbirth-likelihood-c-section.html Other Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:48:22 EST news235820893 (AP) -- Researchers have found that encouraging women to giver birth in hospitals has contributed to a sharp decrease in the number of infant deaths in China. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-hospital-births-babies-china.html Health Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:53:07 EST news235363972 Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, have examined a number of plants which are used for illegal abortions in Tanzania. The lab tests show that several of the plants can make the uterus tissue contract and that the plants therefore can be used to stop lethal bleedings after birth. This new knowledge is now to be conveyed in rural Tanzania where access to medicine often is difficult. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-herbal-abortion-african-women.html Medications Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:40:09 EST news233573996 Caesarean section rates are steadily increasing globally. Requiring two doctors to agree that a Caesarean section is the best way to deliver a baby, rather than just needing one opinion, providing internal feedback to doctors on the number of operations performed and seeking support from local opinion leaders may reduce the use of this procedure. For low-risk pregnancies, nurse-led relaxation classes for women with a fear or anxiety of childbirth and birth preparation classes for mothers may decrease caesarean sections. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-local-efforts-stem-unnecessary-cesarean.html Health Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:44:57 EST news230899368 Fortunately, postnatal depression often resolves itself in the weeks following childbirth. But for mothers with more profound or prolonged postnatal depression the risk of subsequent development of depression in their children is strong. A recent study by Lynne Murray and colleagues published in the May 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) is the first to demonstrate that the effects of maternal depression on the likelihood of the child to develop depression may begin as early as infancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-postnatal-depression-linked-offspring-age.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:22:50 EST news227452932 (Medical Xpress) -- A ground-breaking study of women who have given birth in New Zealand, Scotland and England, has found the strongest evidence yet that having caesarean sections does not always protect women from the common and often distressing after-effect of urinary or faecal incontinence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-international-caesareans-posh-commonly-believed.html Health Tue, 14 Jun 2011 08:20:09 EST news227258150