Two major studies published today in The New England Journal of Medicine can help doctors better identify pregnant women at risk for preterm delivery who can benefit from progesterone treatment, the March of Dimes Foundation said today.

Weekly progesterone injections do not prevent premature births in women pregnant with twins, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study has found.

Despite a mandatory program designed to prevent pregnant women from being exposed to the anti-acne medication Accutane and similar medications containing isotretinoin (a known teratogen or birth defect-causing agent), 122 pregnancies were exposed during the first year of the program, known as iPledge, a report revealed.

Scientists are investigating whether being exposed to viruses during pregnancy could increase the risk of children developing mental illnesses as they get older.

All pregnant women in India who want to have an abortion will soon have to register with the government and get official permission, according to a new Cabinter minister's proposal.

Researchers in this week’s BMJ question whether giving repeated courses of steroid drugs to mothers at risk of preterm delivery is based on sound evidence.

Chronic mild stress in pregnant mothers may increase the risk that their offspring will develop cerebral palsy—a group of neurological disorders marked by physical disability—according to new research in mice. The results may be the first to demonstrate such effects of stress on animals in the womb.

A study appearing in the July issue of the Journal of Periodontology found bacteria commonly found in the mouth and associated with periodontal diseases in the amniotic fluid of some pregnant women.

Together with colleagues from the French Institute for Health and Medical Research INSERM scientists at the GSF – National Research Center for Environment and Health in Neuherberg near Munich showed that exposure of pregnant women to fine particulate matter from traffic may reduce their children’s birth weight.

Non-invasive screening of pregnant women with ultrasound early in pregnancy, combined with maternal blood analysis, has reduced the number of children born in Denmark with Down Syndrome by 50%, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today.

Screening pregnant women with newer, rapid syphilis tests would improve the survival and health of babies, according to research from Haiti.

Women smokers who become pregnant have long been encouraged to reduce or eliminate their nicotine intake. A new study being published in the June 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry provides further reason to do so, as it presents new evidence that in utero exposure to smoking is associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) problems in genetically susceptible children.