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.

Dutch researchers found that 12-year-olds who as newborns were delivered after elective induced labor scored lower on tests...

Women who give birth to bigger-than-average babies are susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes later in life, a new study suggests.

Large-for-gestational age infants are defined as those weighing 8 pounds or more, said lead study author Dr. Kartik Kailas Venkatesh, an assistant professor of epidemiology at...

Children who were exposed to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications their moms took during pregnancy are not more prone to neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD or autism, researchers report.

The news may be welcome to women who've needed to take ADHD medication throughout their pregnancy.

“We can see that the number of women of childbearing age who are m...

Exposure to wildfire smoke can increase the risk of premature birth, new research suggests.

For the study, the researchers reviewed birth certificates and hospital delivery data for more than 2.5 million pregnant women in California from 2007 to 2012, and used satellite images and ZIP codes to compare daily estimates of wildfire smoke intensity.

The study found that from the four we...

New research links cannabis use in the first trimester of pregnancy to poor outcomes, closely related to functioning of the placenta.

This is important information given that more U.S. states are legalizing marijuana for recreational use, researchers said. The study findings were presented Thursday at a meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, in San Francisco and online.

Pregnant women can help protect their newborns from whooping cough by getting a Tdap vaccine during the third trimester of pregnancy.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked cases of infant whooping cough between Jan. 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2019.

The researchers found a link between reduced rates of whooping cough in newborns under 2 months of age and Tdap (tetanu...

New research suggests that pregnant women and new moms in rural U.S. areas are at greater risk of adverse outcomes, including death, because they are more likely to be uninsured.

Women living in rural communities had lower rates of uninterrupted health insurance before, during and after pregnancy compared to those in urban areas, a University of Michigan study found.

“Being uninsu...

There's good news for American mothers-to-be and their newborns: Rates of smoking during pregnancy have fallen by 36% since 2016, a new report finds.

The percentage of pregnant women who smoked was already low in 2016 compared to decades past: 7.2%. But by 2021, that rate had fallen to just 4.6%. That's according to the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), pa...

A mother-to-be's exposure to air pollution during pregnancy may have a lasting impact on her baby's brain development, new research indicates.

Toddlers scored lower on assessments for thinking, motor and language skills when their mothers had more exposure to pollutants during pregnancy, according to researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder.

“Our findings suggest that pol...

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022, access to surgical abortion became increasingly restricted in several states, pushing many women to pursue medication abortions.

But the case of a 22-year-old who took mifepristone and misoprostol -- bought on the internet to end a pregnancy -- serves as a cautionary tale.

She was about six week...

COVID-19 infection in pregnancy raises a woman's risk of death sevenfold and significantly elevates her odds for needing intensive care, a new study finds.

Getting the virus during pregnancy also ups the likelihood of pneumonia, according to researchers at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

"This study provides the most comprehensive evidence to date suggesting that CO...

An experimental blood test could one day provide early warning for a life-threatening complication of pregnancy, a new study reports.

Placenta accreta occurs when the placenta — the food and oxygen source for a fetus — grows too deeply into the wall of a woman's uterus.

The condition can cause a woman to bleed to death following delivery, especially if it hasn't been detected be...

The Mediterranean diet delivers plenty of health dividends, and new research now discovers it may lower complications during pregnancy.

Specifically, women who stuck to the diet had a 21% overall reduced risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, delivery of a small baby and stillbirth, researchers report.

"We know adverse pregnancy outcomes are becoming more common ...

In U.S. states with more restrictive abortion policies, rates of pregnant women, new mothers and infants dying were higher, a new report finds.

The analysis, conducted by the Commonwealth Fund, found that states with heavily restricted...

One in 10 women will develop high blood pressure for the first time in their lives during the year after they give birth to a child, a new study finds.

“The study findings have implications for postpartum care, particularly among patients without a history of hypertension,” said study lead author Samantha Par...

When pregnant women contract COVID-19, one in 10 will have moderate, severe or even critical symptoms, a new study finds.

So it's important they get their COVID vaccines, experts say.

“Given that patients in all trimesters of pregnancy are susceptible to infection and severe respiratory illness from COVID-19, these findings add urgency to the need for vaccination of all pregnant i...

Exposure to even low levels of alcohol while in the womb can change the structure of the fetus' brain, according to Austrian researchers.

The study results suggest that pregnant women should strictly avoid alcohol, one author said.

“Unfortunately, many pregnant women are unaware of the influenc...

More than 1 in every 10 births in the United States now occur prematurely, and the number of these more dangerous deliveries jumped by 4% during 2021, a new report from the March of Dimes shows.

The premature birth rate has now reached 10.5% of all births — the highest level since 2007, according to the organization focused on maternal and infant health.

In fact, rates of prematu...

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 report published Thursday showed that 52,000 women gave birth at home in 2021, an incre...

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...

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...

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.

Protecting pregnant women from air pollution may improve the birth weight of their babies, a new study suggests.

This is especially important for stressed-out mothers who live in neighborhoods burdened by poor air quality.

A mother-to-be's exposure to both

Moms who have had emergency surgery during pregnancy can rest assured that exposure to anesthesia is not linked to developmental issues in their children, a new study reveals.

While surgery and anesthesia are typically avoided during pregnancy, up to 1% of pregnant women may require it for unexpected health