Fertility, Pregnancy & Birth, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 31, 2006

CDC Blocks Publication of Abortion Research

Regardless on your views of abortion—in favor or against legalization—new and disturbing research should unite all of us. According to the current issue of the medical journal The Lancet, illegal abortions are as common as legal ones worldwide. Some 20 million women seek illegal abortions each year, a number that...

Oct 31, 2006

Freezing Ovaries May Preserve Fertility

For women who undergo cancer treatment, loss of fertility is often a major concern. But a new experimental research program that will remove and freeze women's ovaries for possible future use could provide new hope, according to researchers. Female cancer patients receiving treatment can lose their fertility because you're trying...

Aug 31, 2006

Tall Women More Likely to Have Twins

A researcher who specializes in multiple-birth pregnancies has confirmed that taller women are more likely to have twins. Taller women have more of an insulin-like growth factor that has been linked to height and to the rate of twins in previous work. Dr. Gary Steinman, an obstetrician at Long Island...

Apr 30, 2006

Dairy Products Might Cause More Human Twins

Women who consume animal products, specifically dairy, are five times more likely to have twins than those who do not, a new study finds. The reason may involve growth hormones fed to cows. A growth protein called IGF is released from the liver of animals and humans in response to...

Jan 31, 2006

Like Monkeys, Babies Know Math

After long suspecting we're born with some math sense, researchers have shown infants indeed have some ability to count long before they can demonstrate it to Mom and Dad. It turns out they're not unlike grown monkeys. In the study, seven-month-old babies were presented with the voices of two or...

Jan 31, 2006

Monkey's Voice Good as Human's for Newborn Babies

ST. LOUIS—Straight out of the womb, infants may be just as aroused by a rhesus monkey call as by human speech. Infants are acute listeners. Previous studies have found newborns perk up more to folk music than white noise. And four-month-olds like listening to people talk more than they like...

Oct 31, 2008

Teen Pregnancies Blamed on TV Shows

THE CLAIM: Teenagers who watch 'sexy' television programmes are being led into early pregnancies, RAND researchers have claimed. The show Sex and the City is fingered. THE TRUTH: Teen pregnancies in the United States had declined for 15 years before rising in 2006 — the most recent year tabulated and,...

Jul 31, 2008

The Pill Makes Women Pick Bad Mates

Birth-control pills could screw up a woman's ability to sniff out a compatible mate, a new study finds. While several factors can send a woman swooning, including big brains and brawn, body odor can be critical in the final decision, the researchers say. That's because beneath a woman's flowery fragrance...

Jun 30, 2008

The Future of Babies: Artificial Wombs and Pregnant Grandmas

Artificial wombs and experiments on human embryos grown in the lab will be commonplace and no big deal ethically in 30 years, several scientists predict. They envision a scenario just like test-tube babies, which shocked us 30 years ago but now are fairly routine and acceptable to most people. That...

Apr 30, 2008

Happy Mother's Day: Woman Pregnant With 18th Child

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — It's a happy Mother's Day for an Arkansas woman — she's pregnant with her 18th child. Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year's Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins. We've had three...

Apr 30, 2008

Causes of Morning Sickness Revealed

As irritating as morning sickness may be for pregnant women, it may protect embryos. Doctors have long known that morning sickness — the nausea and vomiting usually experienced in early pregnancy — is actually a good sign of a healthy pregnancy, despite the discomfort it brings. However, scientists have debated...

Feb 29, 2008

The Pill Aids in Planned Pregnancies

The same pill that prevents pregnancies could actually help some women undergoing IVF conceive, a new study suggests. More than 15 percent of American couples have difficulty conceiving a child, according to the American Fertility Association. Two types of therapy are currently available for treating infertility — natural methods and...

Sep 30, 2009

Stem Cells Turned into Precursors of Sperm and Eggs

Researchers have discovered how to transform human embryonic stem cells into germ cells, a type of embryonic cell that gives rise to sperm and eggs. The breakthrough could ultimately lead to research that would help infertile couples. The work did not create sperm or eggs, but the advance will allow...

Apr 30, 2009

Test Tube Babies On the Rise Worldwide

More than 200,000 babies were born worldwide with the help of in vitro fertilization and other reproductive technologies in 2002, with a 25 percent increase between 2000 and 2002, according to a new report. However, the Octomom aside, multiple births resulting from assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have been on the...

Dec 31, 2008

FDA Approves Test to Inject Embryonic Stem Cells into Humans

The federal government has approved the first study by a company that will use human embryonic stem cells injected into a human. The Geron corporation announce the approval today. The therapy used in the study is designed to treat spinal cord injuries by injecting stem cells — which are able...