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Results for search "Childbirth".

15 Jul

Are Incontinence and Pelvic Pain After Childbirth Normal?

A new survey finds 71% of Americans think urine leaks after childbirth are normal, but experts say there are proven therapies to stop the pain and discomfort.

Health News Results - 53

08 Nov
Childbirth Can Bring Worrying Medical Bills, Even With Insurance

Childbirth Can Bring Worrying Medical Bills, Even With Insurance

Having a child can cause significant and ongoing financial hardship for new parents, even if they are covered by health insurance, a new study shows.

More than half of people with private insurance spent more than $1,000 out of pocket on

07 Nov
Vitamin D Supplements in Pregnancy Linked to Stronger Bones in Kids

Vitamin D Supplements in Pregnancy Linked to Stronger Bones in Kids

Women who take vitamin D supplements during a pregnancy may be giving their kids the legacy of stronger bones, new British research suggests.

Children whose moms took vitamin D supplements when pregnant had stronger, denser bones at the age of 7 compared to the kids of w...

06 Nov
PCOS Plus Obesity Can Be Hazardous in Pregnancy

PCOS Plus Obesity Can Be Hazardous in Pregnancy

Women who are pregnant but who also have the ovarian cyst disorder polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at higher odds of giving birth to an underweight baby, new Norwegian research shows.

The risk rises even higher if the woman with

04 Nov
History of Concussion Could Raise a New Mom's Odds for Mental Health Issues

History of Concussion Could Raise a New Mom's Odds for Mental Health Issues

Women who’ve had concussions are more likely to suffer severe mental health problems following childbirth, a new study shows...

20 Aug
U.S. Births Continue to Fall, Dropping by 17% Since 2007

U.S. Births Continue to Fall, Dropping by 17% Since 2007

Final government data finds the number of U.S. births falling by 2% last year compared to 2022, continuing a decades-long decline.

Overall, annual U.S. birth numbers have fallen by 17% since peaking in 2007, according to the new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease C...

15 Jul
Most Americans Think Incontinence, Pelvic Pain after Childbirth is Normal -- It's Not

Most Americans Think Incontinence, Pelvic Pain after Childbirth is Normal -- It's Not

Roughly a month after having her second child, Nicole Gerardi-Lukens suddenly felt pressure in her pelvis that was so intense it sent her to the hospital.

When doctors told her bladder had prolapsed -- meaning that it had slipped from its normal position and was bulging ...

27 Jun
Ignorance Could Be Fueling Rising Spread of STDs, Poll Finds

Ignorance Could Be Fueling Rising Spread of STDs, Poll Finds

Many sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in the United States, and a nationwide poll indicates that ignorance about how they're transmitted could be fueling their spread.

About a third of Americans (34%) falsely believe sexually transmitted infections (

05 Jun
Many U.S. Women Unhappy With  With Maternal Health Care, Poll Finds

Many U.S. Women Unhappy With With Maternal Health Care, Poll Finds

Many women are unhappy with the state of U.S. maternal health care, but a major new poll finds most Americans don't understand how badly the nation lags behind other wealthy countries in this area.

Only about 2 in 5 (42%) women currently pregnant or ever pregnant strongl...

28 May
Epidurals Linked to Better Outcomes After Childbirth

Epidurals Linked to Better Outcomes After Childbirth

Women who get an epidural during delivery appear to have a marked reduction in serious complications the first few weeks after giving birt...

14 May
Why C-Section Babies Need 2 Doses of Measles Vaccine

Why C-Section Babies Need 2 Doses of Measles Vaccine

Babies born by C-section are unlikely to receive protection from a single dose of measles vaccine, a new study finds.

A single measles jab is up...

25 Apr
U.S. Births Declined in 2023, Marking End to Post-Pandemic Rise

U.S. Births Declined in 2023, Marking End to Post-Pandemic Rise

The short post-pandemic uptick in U.S. births may be over, with 2023 numbers showing a decline in births.

According to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, just under 3.6 million babies were born in America in 2023, about 76,000 fewe...

04 Apr
Too Many U.S. Women Disrespected, Mistreated During Childbirth

Too Many U.S. Women Disrespected, Mistreated During Childbirth

Childbirth is a harrowing ordeal, and it's being made worse by mistreatment from health care providers during labor, a new study says.

More than one in every eight women are mistreated during childbirth, researchers found.

Most commonly, women's requests for help d...

13 Feb
Syphilis Rates Among Pregnant Women Have Tripled, CDC Data Shows

Syphilis Rates Among Pregnant Women Have Tripled, CDC Data Shows

Maternal syphilis rates have tripled in recent years, putting thousands of newborns at risk for infection, a new U.S. government report shows.

Left untreated, syphilis can damage the heart and brain and cause blindness, deafness and paralysis. When transmitted during pre...

26 Dec
Healthy Twins Born to Woman Who Was Pregnant in Each of Her Two Uteruses

Healthy Twins Born to Woman Who Was Pregnant in Each of Her Two Uteruses

When Kelsey Hatcher's twins share their birth story someday, their tale will truly be one in a million.

Hatcher, who gave birth at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has a rare double uterus and was pregnant with a baby in each one. After 20 hours of labor, s...

15 Nov
Waiting to Clamp Umbilical Cord May Save Preemies' Lives

Waiting to Clamp Umbilical Cord May Save Preemies' Lives

The timing of a simple, standard part of childbirth could mean the difference between life and death for premature babies, a pair of new evidence reviews have concluded.

Preemies whose umbilical cords are clamped 30 seconds to two minutes after birth are less likely to d...

01 Nov
U.S. Infant Mortality Rate Climbs for First Time in 20 Years

U.S. Infant Mortality Rate Climbs for First Time in 20 Years

Following nearly two decades of decline, U.S. infant death rates edged up by 3% in 2022, new provisional government numbers reveal.

"This was the first year we saw statistically significant increased rates of infant mortality in about 20 years,"said study author

29 Sep
Childbirth Can Leave New Parents in Serious Medical Debt

Childbirth Can Leave New Parents in Serious Medical Debt

New parents bringing home their bundle of joy often carry something else with them as they leave the hospital: medical debt.

That's according to new research from Michigan Medicine that found postpartum women are more likely to have medical debt than those who are pregna...

21 Sep
In Mississippi, a Huge Jump in Cases of Babies Born With Syphilis

In Mississippi, a Huge Jump in Cases of Babies Born With Syphilis

The United States is experiencing an alarming wave of congenital syphilis, and one southern state saw a 1,000% rise in babies born with the infection between 2016 and 2022.

The number of babies born with the infection in Mississippi rose from 10 in 2016 to 110 in 2022. S...

21 Aug
Great Step for Baby: Walkable Neighborhoods Linked to Safer Pregnancies

Great Step for Baby: Walkable Neighborhoods Linked to Safer Pregnancies

Walkable neighborhoods -- with sidewalks, parks and paths -- encourage pregnant women to get more exercise, which leads to good outcomes for both mom and baby.

New research ...

26 Jun
Tori Bowie's Death Highlights Race Gap in Maternal Death Rates

Tori Bowie's Death Highlights Race Gap in Maternal Death Rates

Having a baby in the United States continues to be a risky proposition, particularly for Black women, according to a pair of new reports.

The number of U.S. deliveries that resulted in severe, potentially life-threatening complications for the mother increased between 20...

17 May
COVID Pandemic May Have Heightened Women's Fears Around Pregnancy

COVID Pandemic May Have Heightened Women's Fears Around Pregnancy

Many American women fear childbirth, and the COVID-19 pandemic did not calm those feelings, new research shows.

"Our results showed really high rates of childbirth fear in our sample," said

12 Apr
Big Drop in U.S. Pregnancies Seen Since 2010

Big Drop in U.S. Pregnancies Seen Since 2010

Pregnancy rates in the United States suffered a steep decline during the last decade, new government data shows.

The overall U.S. pregnancy rate fell by 12% between 2010 and 2019, according to figures released Wednesday by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics (...

11 Apr
Pandemic's Effect on U.S. Birth Rates May Have Depended on Politics

Pandemic's Effect on U.S. Birth Rates May Have Depended on Politics

The "baby bust" that hit the United States during the first year of the COVID pandemic did not affect all states equally -- with states that were more racially diverse or more "blue" seeing bigger drops in their birth rates.

That's among the findings of a

10 Apr
Induced Deliveries Could Help Prevent a Major Complication of Pregnancy

Induced Deliveries Could Help Prevent a Major Complication of Pregnancy

A potentially dangerous complication of pregnancy might be prevented by carefully screening women late in pregnancy and planning a timed delivery for those at high risk, a new study reports.

More than half of all preeclampsia cases that occur late in pregnancy could be w...

07 Apr
Birth Complications? Risk May Rise Depending on Where in U.S. You Live

Birth Complications? Risk May Rise Depending on Where in U.S. You Live

Where a woman lives in the United States has a lot to do with whether she has severe maternal complications from childbirth, according to new research using Medicaid data.

Her race or ethnicity also greatly affects this, researchers found.

"Near misses" -- where co...

05 Apr
Pandemic Saw Rise in Opioid Prescriptions Given After Childbirth

Pandemic Saw Rise in Opioid Prescriptions Given After Childbirth

New mothers who gave birth early in the pandemic filled far more opioid prescriptions than American women did previously, raising concerns about the potential for narcotic misuse.

About 38% of more than 460,000 women who gave birth from July 2018 through December 2020 we...

31 Mar
Study Refutes Notion That Method of Delivery Impacts Baby's 'Microbiome'

Study Refutes Notion That Method of Delivery Impacts Baby's 'Microbiome'

Despite a longstanding assumption that babies' gut microbiome development could be affected by whether they were born vaginally or through cesarean section, scientists report this doesn't appear to be the case.

A team of Canadian researchers looked to infant stool microb...

10 Mar
Do C-Section Babies Miss Out on Mom's Helpful Microbes? Maybe Not

Do C-Section Babies Miss Out on Mom's Helpful Microbes? Maybe Not

New evidence finds that babies born by cesarean section may not miss out on essential microbes.

Though these newborns receive less of their mother's gut microbiome during birth, they can obtain their mom's microbes in breast milk and in other ways.

"We wanted to ...

22 Feb
Kids Born After Elective Induced Labor Performed Worse in School: Study

Kids Born After Elective Induced Labor Performed Worse in School: Study

You're 38 weeks pregnant and so uncomfortable you can barely move, so you ask your doctor if labor can be induced early.

That's not necessarily a good idea, according to new research that found children born after elective induced labor may do worse in school.

Dut...

10 Jan
U.S. Birth Rates Continue to Fall

U.S. Birth Rates Continue to Fall

Continuing a decades-long trend, the percentage of American women who've ever had a child declined again in the latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"A lower percentage of women aged 15 to 44 in 2015--2019 had ever had a biological chi...

17 Nov
U.S. Home Births Reach Highest Level in Three Decades

U.S. Home Births Reach Highest Level in Three Decades

More pregnant women in the United States are choosing to deliver their babies at home rather than in hospitals, a trend that may have been influenced by the pandemic.

A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

21 Oct
Kept Home Under Lockdown, U.S. Couples May Have Spurred a 'Baby Bump'

Kept Home Under Lockdown, U.S. Couples May Have Spurred a 'Baby Bump'

The pandemic brought about a lot of changes in people's lives. For many, that included a new baby.

The United States saw a "baby bump"in 2021 described in a new study as "the first major reversal in declini...

19 Oct
Genes for Stillbirth May Be Passed Down by Male Relatives

Genes for Stillbirth May Be Passed Down by Male Relatives

Stillbirth is heartbreaking tragedy for parents, but exactly what raises the risk of it remains elusive.

Certain health conditions in a pregnant woman can be a factor, but new research came up...

11 Oct
7 Million U.S. Women Live in Maternity Care 'Deserts': Report

7 Million U.S. Women Live in Maternity Care 'Deserts': Report

Pregnancy can be safer and healthier for both mom and baby with good access to quality maternity care.

Yet, the United States is still among one of the most dangerous developed nations for childbirth, especially in rural areas and communities of color, according to a ne...

27 Sep
Anxiety During Pregnancy Could Mean Earlier Delivery

Anxiety During Pregnancy Could Mean Earlier Delivery

Too much anxiety isn't good for anyone, but a new study suggests it is particularly perilous for pregnant women because it can raise the chances of their ...

07 Sep
Stories of Difficult Conception, Birth Can Boost Appreciation of Life

Stories of Difficult Conception, Birth Can Boost Appreciation of Life

Stories about their difficult birth or their parents' fertility challenges can give adult children a more grateful, upbeat attitude towards their lives, British researchers suggest.

24 Aug
Vaginal or C-Section, Method of Childbirth Won't Affect a Couple's Sex Life Later

Vaginal or C-Section, Method of Childbirth Won't Affect a Couple's Sex Life Later

Childbirth shouldn't put any dent in your future lovin', regardless of the way your baby was delivered, new research assures.

Sexual enjoyment isn't affected at all by method of delivery in the years following childbirth, according to

03 Aug
Neighborhood May Affect a Couple's Odds of Conceiving

Neighborhood May Affect a Couple's Odds of Conceiving

Where you live may affect your fertility, a new study suggests.

People who live in economically deprived neighborhoods are about 20% less likely...

21 Jul
Childbirth Now Costs Nearly $3,000 for Insured Americans

Childbirth Now Costs Nearly $3,000 for Insured Americans

Better have some savings stored up before you rush to the delivery room: A new analysis shows the average out-of-pocket expense for delivering a child in the United States is nearly $3,000, even if you're insured.

Other studies have looked at the costs for specific serv...

23 May
C-Sections Won't Raise Baby's Odds for Food Allergies

C-Sections Won't Raise Baby's Odds for Food Allergies

Babies delivered by cesarean section are no more likely to have food allergies during their first year of life than other infants, according to an Australian study.

The association between type of delivery and food allergy risk had been unclear, so researchers decided to...

20 May
C-Section Antibiotics Show No Link to Asthma in Childhood

C-Section Antibiotics Show No Link to Asthma in Childhood

Giving antibiotics to a woman just before a cesarean delivery does not increase her baby's risk of asthma or eczema, a new British study says.

C-section is common, but can put new mothers at incre...

10 Feb
COVID Infection Can Attack Placenta, Triggering Stillbirth

COVID Infection Can Attack Placenta, Triggering Stillbirth

Pregnant women who aren't vaccinated against COVID-19 are at greater risk for delivering stillborn babies, and new research provides important clues about why.

Unlike other fungal, bacterial or viral infections, which cross over the placenta to affect the fetus, SARS-CoV...

01 Feb
More Evidence Pot Use in Pregnancy Is Bad for Baby

More Evidence Pot Use in Pregnancy Is Bad for Baby

So, you're pregnant and battling nausea every day. What harm could come from smoking a joint to settle your stomach?

Plenty, according to a new study that suggests women who use pot while expe...

01 Nov
A Faster, Cheaper Test to Gauge the Risk of Premature Delivery?

A Faster, Cheaper Test to Gauge the Risk of Premature Delivery?

A two-minute test can accurately detect vaginal bacteria associated with preterm birth, researchers have found, pointing to a possible way to identify pregnant women at increased risk of early delivery.

In the United States, about one in 10 babies are born preterm, accor...

18 Oct
Pandemic Grief Can Come Between Mothers and Their Newborns

Pandemic Grief Can Come Between Mothers and Their Newborns

Among the many negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may be damage to the bond between mothers and their infants, researchers say.

Women who experienced grief and depression due to pandemic-related losses may find it more difficult to form this all-important emotiona...

18 Oct
Pregnancy, Delivery Safe for Women Born With Heart Defects

Pregnancy, Delivery Safe for Women Born With Heart Defects

Women who were born with heart defects may get some reassurance from a new study that finds they face no heightened risk to health during a pregnancy and delivery.

According to the researchers, doctors may often advise these women against getting pregnant due to the pote...

29 Sep
Epidurals Not Linked to Autism in Children

Epidurals Not Linked to Autism in Children

Pregnant women who receive an epidural to ease their pain during labor aren't any more likely than others to have kids with autism, two new studies show.

Earlier research suggested this practice may increase autism risk in offspring, but the pair of studies should put th...

20 Sep
Pandemic Tied to Declining Birth Rates for U.S., Much of Europe

Pandemic Tied to Declining Birth Rates for U.S., Much of Europe

Birth rates tend to fall during pandemics, and history is repeating itself with the COVID-19 scourge, researchers say.

Fewer babies have been born in much of Europe and the United States. Earlier in the pandemic, U.S. births declined 7%, a new study finds.

In Europ...

13 Sep
Are Stillbirths More Common in Women Infected With COVID?

Are Stillbirths More Common in Women Infected With COVID?

COVID-19 is surging in U.S. states with low vaccination rates, and these places may also be seeing a higher-than-usual number of stillbirths linked to the virus.

While the number of stillbirths is still very low nationally, doctors in the Deep South have noticed increase...

09 Sep
Mom-to-Be's 'Leaky' Heart Valves May Pose More Danger Than Thought

Mom-to-Be's 'Leaky' Heart Valves May Pose More Danger Than Thought

Leaky heart valves can put pregnant women at serious risk, according to a large study that runs counter to established practice.

The condition used to be considered relatively harmless during pregnancy. But this analysis by Johns Hopkins University researchers of more th...

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