Results from the world’s first registry of pregnancy and heart disease have shown that most women with heart disease can go through pregnancy and delivery safely, so long as they are adequately evaluated, counselled and receive high quality care. However, this is not always the case: women and babies in developing countries are more likely […]
Category: Fertility
Study finds increased risk of prematurity and low birth weight in babies born after three or more abortions
One of the largest studies to look at the effect of induced abortions on a subsequent first birth has found that women who have had three or more abortions have a higher risk of some adverse birth outcomes, such as delivering a baby prematurely and with a low birth weight. The research, which is published […]
Genetic heart diseases may be responsible for unexplained stillbirths
Nuremberg, Germany: Genetic researchers have made an important step towards resolving the mystery of the causes of intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD), or stillbirth, where a baby dies in the womb after the 14th week of gestation. IUFD is responsible for 60% of perinatal mortality and occurs in about one in every two hundred pregnancies in […]
Genome-wide analysis shows previously undetected abnormalities in parents of affected children
Nuremberg, Germany: The use of genome-wide array analysis[1] in parents whose children are suspected of having a genetic disease shows that the parents frequently also have previously undetected genetic abnormalities, a researcher from The Netherlands told the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics. Being aware of this is important to parents because […]
3-D image guided brachytherapy helps avoid hysterectomies for cervical cancer patients
Barcelona, Spain: Delivering radiotherapy directly to cancer of the cervix using 3-D imaging techniques is effective at controlling the return and spread of the disease and, in most cases, avoids the need for hysterectomies, according to research presented at the World Congress of Brachytherapy [1 & 2]. Dr Renaud Mazeron said that a review of […]
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) provide the most effective emergency contraception
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) should be used routinely to provide emergency contraception, according to the authors of the first systematic review of all available data from the past 35 years. They found that IUDs had a failure rate of less than one per thousand and were a more effective form of emergency contraception than the “morning […]
Fatty diets may be associated with reduced semen quality
Men’s diets, in particular the amount and type of different fats they eat, could be associated with their semen quality according to the results of a study published online in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction [1]. The study of 99 men in the USA found an association between a high total fat intake […]
Study finds convincing evidence that the combined oral contraceptive pill helps painful periods
A large Scandinavian study that has been running for 30 years has finally provided convincing evidence that the combined oral contraceptive pill does, indeed, alleviate the symptoms of painful menstrual periods – dysmenorrhoea. The research is published online in Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction [1]. Although some previous studies and anecdotal evidence have […]
Stress in early pregnancy can lead to shorter pregnancies, more pre-term births and fewer baby boys
Stress in the second and third months of pregnancy can shorten pregnancies, increase the risk of pre-term births and may affect the ratio of boys to girls being born, leading to a decline in male babies. These are the conclusions of a study that investigated the effect on pregnant women of the stress caused by […]
Removal of fibroids that distort the womb cavity may prevent recurrent miscarriages
Researchers have found the first, firm evidence that fibroids are associated with recurrent miscarriages. They have also discovered that if they removed the fibroids that distorted the inside of the womb, the risk of miscarriage in the second trimester of pregnancy was reduced dramatically – to zero. The study, which is published online in Europe’s […]