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

Sep 30, 2010

Gastric Bypass Surgery Poses Pregnancy Risks for Teens

Teen girls who become pregnant after gastric bypass surgery may have an increased risk of having children with birth defects, researchers said today. However the conclusion is based on a small number of cases, and some researchers are skeptical of the link. The surgery, which staples the stomach and rearranges...

Mar 31, 2010

Premature Births Remain a Medical Mystery

After rising for 16 years, the rate of premature births in the United States dropped for the second year in a row, according to a report released this month. Despite the good news, still more than half a million babies are born early in the country, putting them at risk...

Jan 31, 2010

Is 'Water Birth' Safe?

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen made news recently by giving birth to her son Benjamin in an unusual way: at home in her own bathtub. It wasn't an accident or surprise delivery; instead she did it as part of a growing trend called water birthing, considered by some women and midwives to...

Dec 31, 2009

Embryos Like to Be Rocked Like Babies

Like babies that can be lulled to sleep with swaying, embryos also prefer to be rocked. By gently rocking embryos while they grew during in vitro fertilization, scientists increased pregnancy rates in mice by more than 20 percent. The same rock-a-bye procedure could lead to more success for in vitro...

Dec 31, 2009

U.S. Babies Are Getting Smaller

Babies born in the United States are getting smaller, according to a new study. The findings suggest that birth weights in this country have declined during the past 15 years, most dramatically among the least likely group of mothers. The researchers estimate that birth weights for full-term babies have decreased...

May 31, 2011

New Male Birth Control Concept Shows Promise

Equality for men may be on the horizon, contraceptive equality, that is. For just over a half century, women have been able to pop a pill to prevent pregnancy, but a pharmaceutical alternative has never emerged for men. Now, research to interfere with the body's ability to use vitamin A...

Nov 30, 2012

How Sperm Length Affects Fertility

Most fertility research has focused on the size of sperm and the size of the swimmers' heads, but a new study suggests the variability in the length of sperm also may put a wrench in successful reproduction. Like a factory churning out products of inconsistent sizes, ejaculates with varying sperm...

Mar 31, 2012

Study: Unplanned Pregnancies Common in Women in their 20s

More than two-thirds of pregnancies in unmarried 20-something women between 2001 and 2008 were unplanned, a new study finds. In 2008 alone, nearly 10 percent of unmarried women ages 20 to 29 experienced an unintended pregnancy. About half of unintended pregnancies in this age group end in abortion, according to...

Feb 29, 2012

Women Shoulder Infertility Worries, Survey Suggests

Women who are trying to get pregnant do more than their fair share of worrying about infertility, a new survey finds. In fact, 42 percent of women surveyed who had conceived in the past five years said they became obsessed with getting pregnant once they started trying. Only 10 percent...

Dec 31, 2011

Baby Monkeys With 6 Genomes Are Scientific First

They look like ordinary baby rhesus macaques, but Hex, Roku and Chimero are the world's first chimeric monkeys, each with cells from the genomes of as many as six rhesus monkeys. Until now research on so-called chimeric animals, or those that have cells with different genomes, has been limited to...

Jan 31, 2013

Too Much TV May Lower Sperm Count

Guys may now have another reason to get off the couch: Watching TV has been linked to lower sperm counts, a new study suggests. During the study, which involved 189 healthy 18- to 22-year-olds, men who watched the most TV (20 or more hours a week) had sperm counts that...

Sep 30, 2014

Free Birth Control Implants Slash Teen Pregnancy Rates

Providing teens with free contraception dramatically reduces their chances of unintended pregnancy, a new study shows. On average, nearly 16 percent of sexually experienced female teens will get pregnant in a given year, but fewer than 4 percent of the teens who received free contraception did in the new study,...

Sep 30, 2014

First Baby Is Born to Woman with Womb Transplant

A woman in Sweden gave birth in September after receiving a womb transplant in 2013, her doctors reported today (Oct. 3). The 36-year-old woman was born without a uterus because of a genetic condition, but had healthy ovaries. The doctors had fertilized the woman's eggs via IVF, and had frozen...

Jul 31, 2014

Liberal and Conservative States Equally Clueless About Abortions

Americans living in politically liberal states and those living in conservative states have an equally low understanding of abortion's health effects and the laws regarding the procedure, a new national survey finds. Just 74 out of the 569 people who took the survey answered at least four of the five...

May 31, 2014

Pregnant Women May Lack Info on Household Toxins

Pregnant women could be missing out on information about how environmental toxins may affect their unborn babies, new research suggests. A nationwide survey of U.S. obstetricians found that few discussed toxins with their patients in depth, although many considered counseling their patients about environmental health hazards to be important. OB/GYN's...