A baby is twice as likely to be born bottom first if either or both the parents were themselves breech deliveries, according to a study published ahead of print on bmj.com. The results suggest genes are a contributing factor.

A study published in PLoS Medicine this week suggests that of women who die during pregnancy and childbirth in sub-Saharan Africa, more may die from treatable infectious diseases than from conditions directly linked to pregnancy.

Jennifer Lopez is allegedly set to give birth today via C-Section. MediaTakeOut.com claims to have spoken with an insider at New York’s North Shore – Long Island Jewish hospital who says the singer has a scheduled C-Section today.

Maverick Thomas, a baby, just over a day old is in critical condition at the Hennepin County Medical Center's burn unit in Minnesota in the United States after his oxygen hood caught fire burning 18% of his body. He was under care by doctors at Mercy Hospital located in in Coon Rapids when the fire occurred on Tuesday January 22

Vilma and William were the most popular names for new born babies in Sweden for 2007.

CNN anchorwoman and lawyer Nancy Grace, 48, and her husband David Linch welcomed their first children, boy/girl twins, on Sunday, November 4th. Son John David, who was named for his father David and John the Revelator, weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce, and daughter Lucy Elizabeth, who was named for Nancy's mother Elizabeth and her grandmother Lucy, weighed 2 pounds, 15 ounces.

“We do not recommend that amniotomy, also known as breaking the waters, should be used routinely as part of standard labour management and care” says Cochrane Researcher Rebecca Smyth, after completing a systematic review of relevant research studies.

A report about IVF has found more babies are being born to women who have one embryo implanted and that those babies are healthier than other IVF babies.

A new report sponsored by the United Nations and the World Bank says progress has been slow at reducing the number of deaths worldwide from pregnancy and childbirth. The report says more than one-half million women a year continue to die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. It says 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some benefits of motherhood are intangible, but one has been validated through biostatistical research: women who bear children have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

The UK government claims it is trying to give women more choice by converting local maternity units to midwife led services. But are they safe? Two experts debate the issue in this week's BMJ.

Practical and financial constraints on public sector hospitals could be dictating how and when babies are born. Two new studies (1,2) show that as the number of elective, planned caesarean sections rises, more and more babies are born during the week and fewer come into the world at weekends.