Home pregnancy test
Thanks to ultra-sensitive home pregnancy testing kits, more than 200 women who discover they are expecting are having their pregnancies ended by mistake because hospital scans cannot pick up the earliest signs of life, doctors warn.
Researchers say health records of 50,000 women link over-the-counter anti-inflammatories and deaths of fetuses.
Use of common anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen if taken early in pregnancy may increase the chance of miscarriage, a new study suggests.
Continue reading… “Anti-inflammatory drugs double risk of miscarriage”
The test analyzes fetal DNA found in the mother’s blood and can establish sex weeks earlier than other options.
A baby’s sex can be determined as early as seven weeks into pregnancy by a simple blood test. The test is highly accurate if used correctly, a finding that experts say is likely to lead to more widespread use by parents concerned about gender-linked diseases, those who are merely curious and people considering the more ethically controversial step of selecting the sex of their children.
Continue reading… “Blood test can determine fetal sex at seven weeks”
A government’s advertisement billboard in support of baby girls in Morena, India.
The practice of aborting female fetuses if they don’t yet have a male child is becoming more common and widespread among couples in India, according to a new study.
Continue reading… “Sex-Selective Abortion Becoming More Common and Widespread in India”
Scientists were able to identify all DNA strands that belong to the child from the mother’s blood sample.
Parents may soon be able to find out if their unborn child is prone to any inherited diseases, researchers said on Thursday, after developing a non-invasive technique to draw the entire gene map of the human fetus. By analyzing a sample of the mother’s blood, which contains DNA from the fetus, scientists in Hong Kong and the United States were able to identify all the DNA strands that belong to the child and piece them together.
Continue reading… “Entire DNA Profile of Unborn Baby Has Been Mapped From Mother’s Blood”
a, Video frame representing a self-directed movement towards the mouth. b, A self-directed movement towards the eye. c, The fetus reaching towards and “caressing” the back of the sibling. d, The fetus reaching towards and “caressing” the head of the sibling.
Humans have a deep-seated urge to be social, and new research on the interactions of twins in the womb suggests this begins even before babies are born.
Continue reading… “Twins Learn to be Social in the Womb”
Embryonic stem cells behave very differently outside the pull of Earth’s gravity.
Any future astronauts here who are hoping to make the first space baby might want to think again – embryonic stem cells don’t act the same way in zero gravity, making successful procreation in space almost impossible.
Continue reading… “Making a Baby in Space Could be Dangerous”
High birth weight babies increase a child’s risk of becoming obese.
Women who gain a lot of weight during pregnancy are more likely to have high-birth-weight babies, which may increase the children’s risk of becoming obese later in life, a new study suggests.The findings add to growing evidence of the importance of appropriate weight gain during pregnancy.
Continue reading… “Women Who Gain Too Much Weight During Pregnancy Raise Child’s Obesity Risk”
20-week old fetus. Nerve connections in the brain are not sufficiently formed to allow pain perception until after 24-weeks
Fetuses aged 24 weeks or less do not have the brain connections to feel pain, according to a working party report published this week by the UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).
Continue reading… “24-Week Old Fetuses Cannot Feel Pain”
China has 32 million more young men than young women – a gender gap that could lead to increasing crime – because parents facing strict birth limits abort female fetuses to have a son, a study released Friday said.
Continue reading… “Study: China’s Birth Limits Could Lead To Increasing Crime”
Rats are more attracted to liquor’s smell during puberty if their mothers were given alcohol during pregnancy.
Continue reading… “Unborn Exposed To Alcohol Are Attracted To Smell Of Liquor After Birth”
The Australian government has issued its first license allowing scientists to create cloned human embryos to try and obtain embryonic stem cells.
Continue reading… “Australia Issues First License to Clone Human Embryos”
