Children exposed to the Zika virus may need more support as they start school, even if they were not diagnosed with Zika-related birth defects and congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), a new study suggests.

Children may still have differences in brain development, including those in thinking skills, mood and mobility, though researchers said some identified in the study may have been a measure ...

Researchers have found that nearly 3% of pregnancies in the United States were exposed to addictive opioid drugs.

The finding stems from an analysis of data from 21,905 pregnant women in what's dubbed the ECHO program (Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes), a federally funded effort to investigate the effects of early life exposures on several key areas of child health.

Many women experience back pain during pregnancy and a new study review suggests an ancient treatment can help.

Acupuncture provided significant relief of lower back and pelvic pain, according to an analysis of 10 trials from various parts of the world. The findings were published Nov. 21 in BMJ Open.

"Acupuncture significantly improved pain, functional status, and quality ...

U.S. stillbirth rates still need to be tackled at the local, state and national levels because efforts to reduce the risk have stalled, new research claims.

Racial disparities remain as well, with Black women more likely to experience stillbirth (the loss of a baby before or during delivery) than white women.

"Over the last 40 years, we have reduced certain risk factors for stillbi...

Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 while pregnant provides higher levels of antibodies for both mom and baby than catching the virus does, a new study finds.

When pregnant women received one of the two available mRNA vaccines, researchers found that the women had 10-fold higher antibody concentrations than those who were infected naturally.

The research team from Children's Hospital o...

When preteen children or very young teenagers become pregnant, they face higher rates of complications and a greater risk of winding up in the intensive care unit than older teens do, a new study finds.

The question about what happens when a young girl goes through pregnancy and delivery takes on more relevance after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June and subsequent abo...

A hormone therapy commonly used to prevent preterm births probably isn't effective, a new study reports.

Doctors have been prescribing vaginal progesterone treatments to help at-risk pregnant women delay delivery for as long as possible, researchers said.

But a new study involving more than 1,600 pregnant women with a history of early delivery revealed that vaginal progesterone had ...

Most pregnant women are told it's safe to have one cup of coffee a day because it won't trigger miscarriages or preterm deliveries, but new research suggests a surprising risk: Moms-to-be who consume caffeine, even in small amounts, may have shorter kids.

"The main takeaway is that even low exposure to caffeine during pregnancy was associated with shorter height in childhood," said study ...

Women who have autism are more vulnerable during pregnancy to depression and anxiety, according to a new British study.

That makes it imperative that effective mental health screening and support is available to help this group, said lead researcher Sarah Hampton, from the University of Cambridge.

It's not high blood pressure, hemorrhage or sepsis that is more likely to kill pregnant women -- it's their husbands and boyfriends.

Homicide is a leading cause of death in pregnant women in the United States, and the risk is growing, researchers warned in a new study published Oct. 19 in the BMJ.

It's ...

Millions of women routinely check Instagram after giving birth, only to see posts by other new moms showing off how fast they got back into svelte shape.

Of course, photos like those can be a real downer for women who don't have the time or resources to lose pregnancy weight...

Frozen embryos appear to be linked with a significantly higher risk of dangerously high blood pressure for the woman in pregnancies achieved through in vitro fertilization, a major new study reports.

Expectant moms were 74% more likely to develop high blood pressure if her pregnancy resulted from a frozen embryo, as opposed to a fresh embryo or natural conception, according to analysis of...

Using marijuana after the first weeks of pregnancy is linked to mental health issues in children that linger well into early adolescence, a new study shows.

Exposure to cannabis after about five to six weeks of fetal development was associated with attention, social and behavioral problems, according to...

Research has suggested that kids born to moms who had the flu or another infection during pregnancy may be more likely to have autism, but a new study implies infection may not be the cause after all.

"We found no evidence to suggest that infections contracted by mothers during pregnancy would cause autism in the child," said study author Martin Brynge. He's a doctoral student in the glob...

The number of babies born with a virus that commonly causes birth defects may have dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research suggests.

That was true in Minnesota, the first state to start screening all newborns for congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV).

In the five years leading up to the pandemic, about 1 in every 200 babies was born with CMV. That dropped to 1 in...

While exposure to smog is a known risk factor for preterm birth and low-birth weight, new research suggests it also may heighten risk of COVID-19 infection for pregnant low-income women.

Scientists at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health analyzed the COVID test results for more than 3,300 pregnant women in New York and also assessed their long-term exposure to