Maternal Health

Have US maternal mortality rates actually doubled?

March 15, 2024 - Research suggests that the rising rates of maternal mortality in the United States may represent changes in maternal mortality surveillance instead of an increase in incidence. While data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) suggests a 144% increase in maternal mortality from 1999 to 2021, an American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology...

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Early Prenatal Mental Health Interventions Reduce Postpartum Risks

by Veronica Salib

Prenatal mental health interventions reduced the risk of moderate-to-severe postpartum anxiety by two-thirds in an NIH-funded study based in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. According to an NIH press...

Alabama Supreme Court Ruling Compromises Access to IVF

by Veronica Salib

On February 16, 2024, the Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling that characterized frozen embryos as people, indicating that any destruction of these frozen embryos could be considered a crime. Despite...

Preterm and Early-Term Birth Rates in the US Increased Since 2014

by Veronica Salib

On January 31, 2024, the United States CDC published a National Vital Statistics Report (NVSS) evaluating the distribution of births by gestational age from 2014 to 2022. Through data stratification,...

Researchers Identify the Cause of Morning Sickness

by Veronica Salib

On December 13, 2023, scientists published a study in Nature that identified a risk factor for morning sickness, also called hyperemesis gravidarum. The condition causes severe nausea and vomiting...

Texas Supreme Court Overturns Abortion Decision from Lower Court

by Veronica Salib

Yesterday, December 11, 2023, the Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling that overturned a lower court’s decision to grant Kate Cox an abortion. The lower court decision was issued last Thursday and...

Overdose Deaths Increased in Postpartum Women from 2018 to 2021

by Veronica Salib

A report published last week in JAMA Psychiatry revealed changing patterns in overdose deaths among postpartum women. The study — funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a part of...

March of Dimes Gives US D+ Premature Birth Grade on 2023 Report Card

by Veronica Salib

Recently, March of Dimes released its annual report card on maternal and infant outcomes across the United States and its territories, highlighting that the US received a D+ for premature birth, with a...

November 2023 Elections Mark 3 Big Wins for Abortion Rights

by Veronica Salib

On November 7, 2023, three states, Ohio, Kentucky, and Virginia, voted in favor of maintaining abortion rights. Although policy changes were only on the ballot in Ohio, votes in Kentucky and Virginia...

CDC Reports That Infant Mortality Rates Rose 3% from 2021 to 2022

by Veronica Salib

Yesterday, the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Vital Statistics published a provisional report highlighting a 3% increase in infant mortality rates...

Obesity Before/During Pregnancy Linked to Cardiovascular Risk

by Veronica Salib

A press release from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) highlights the results of a recent study published in Circulation Research, which notes that being overweight or obese before pregnancy or...

Maternal Stress and Prenatal COVID Status Impact Infant Attention Span

by Veronica Salib

On September 27, 2023, scientists published the results of a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), a subset of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), that evaluated the...

NIH Awards $24 Million to Develop Maternal Health Research Centers

by Veronica Salib

Yesterday, the National Institutes of Health announced that it would award $24 million for the first year to establish Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. This funding is a component of the...

US Maternal Mortality Rate Increased Across All Groups from 1999 to 2019

by Veronica Salib

Across American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN); Asian, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander (AANHPI); Hispanic; Black; and White patients, the United States maternal mortality rates (MMRs)...

OB/GYN Residency Applications Decreased 10.5% in Abortion Ban States

by Veronica Salib

In mid-April, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) released a detailed analysis of location preferences by residency applicants in a post-Roe world, noting a 10.5% obstetrics and...

SCOTUS Lifts Abortion Pill Restrictions Pending Final Ruling

by Veronica Salib

On April 14, 2023, an order by Samuel A. Alito, Jr., a judge for the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS), issued an order that lifted restrictions on the abortion pill, pending a final ruling from the...

Reproductive Care Research Finds 6% Fewer Abortions Post-Roe

by Hayden Schmidt

A national abortion reporting program found that, on average, 5,377 fewer abortions were performed each month after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022. The study conducted by the...

Politicians Debate the Benefit of Universal CMV Screenings for Infants

by Veronica Salib

Although cytomegalovirus (CMV) is not nearly as well-known as other infections, the virus impacts many pediatric patients. The CDC notes that 0.5% of babies are born with congenital CMV. Additionally,...

USPSTF Issues Recommendation for Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy

by Veronica Salib

The United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently issued a draft recommendation —open for public commentary until March 6, 2023 — for hypertensive disorders during...

How a Mediterranean Diet Can Impact Pregnancy Outcomes

by Veronica Salib

A Mediterranean diet — rich in vegetables, legumes, fruits, and nuts but low in saturated fats and processed meats — has been linked to favorable outcomes across many patient populations,...

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