Several birth control pills have been linked to blood clots in women who use them, but sufficient evidence about similar risks from hormone contraceptive besides the Pill is lacking.

The effect of tobacco smoke on pregnant women and their developing babies is well-documented, but what if a baby were born into a community where no public smoking was allowed at all? The first study conducted in the U.S. to compare a city with a smoking ban to a city without one found that fewer pregnant women were smoking and fewer babies were being born early. Avoid cigarette smoke while pregnant. Robert Lee Page, II, a pharmacist in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Colorado's Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, led the study to inve...

Obesity is known to reduce a woman's fertility as well as increase the risk of complications with a birth, but does that mean losing weight will increase her fertility?

Once a woman reaches full term in her pregnancy, it can be hard not to wish the baby would arrive already. Fortunately, choosing to be induced is no riskier than waiting for labor.

Most women want a shapely, muscular body to enhance their looks. A new study reports that those firm, hard-won muscles also improve placental health in pregnant women.

There's nothing like the pressure to perform to add insult to injury if a man is having problems getting an erection. But this can occur when a couple is planning to have a baby.

Shedding pounds before getting pregnant can reduce a number of health risks - but it may also add a few points to your child's reading and math scores. A recent study has found a link between a mother's weight before pregnancy and their children's cognitive skills: obese women's children score lower on math and reading tests when they were 5 to 7 years old. Get to a healthy weight before becoming pregnant. Lead author Rika Tanda , a nursing doctoral candidate at Ohio State University, and colleagues wanted to investigate potential connections between a mother's pre-pregnancy ob...

No parents want to see their children grow up too fast or have sexual experiences before they're ready. Whatever parents concerns are, a new study shows that teen girls are having less sex and waiting longer before their first experience.

Though most recommended nutrients for pregnant women are included in prenatal vitamins, others should be gained through diet, such as the nutrient choline . A recent study reveals that a higher intake of choline during the last part of a woman's pregnancy reduces their baby's stress levels, and this reduction, along with other changes noted, may play a part in reducing later disease risk. Eat plenty of vegetables and protein foods during your pregnancy. Marie Caudill , an associate professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University, and Cornell graduate student Xinyin Jian...

Parents and docs know preemies come with a range of possible health risks, but what about the little bundles that arrive late instead of early? Turns out they have a few risks too. A recent study has found that being born after 42 weeks of pregnancy is linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and a higher number of behavioral and emotional problems in early childhood. Try to give birth at term - when your baby is due. Lead author Hanan El Marroun , a researcher in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology at Erasmus MC in the Netherlands, ...