When California had the highest number of pertussis cases in six decades in 2010, public health officials took notice. Pertussis (whooping cough) is especially dangerous for babies.

Being obese and pregnant can carry a range of risks to the mother during pregnancy, but it also has consequences for her baby, in the short-term and the long-term.

Pregnancy is an emotional time. As such, depression is a common problem during and after pregnancy. When pregnant women take depression medications, there can still be risks for their unborn children.

Fetal alcohol syndrome results when babies are exposed to high amounts of alcohol in the womb. It usually involves distinctive facial features - but not always. A recent study has found that children may have problems with brain development or behavioral development as a result of fetal alcohol syndrome even if their outward appearance doesn't show the symptoms of the disorder. Don't drink while pregnant. The study, led by Devon Kuehn, MD, of the Epidemiology Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), was part of a long-term...

Ready for some good news about kids today? An annual federal report on children's well-being in the US has a lot of it, from birth outcomes to school performance to deaths.

Pregnant women need sufficient amounts of iron, which is included in most prenatal vitamins. But like many supplements, taking too much iron can have negative side effects.

Research is uncovering more and more about possible health risks to babies if their mothers are obese during pregnancy. Another one for the list: being born with low iron levels.

There are several vaccines pregnant women are advised to get and several others they should avoid while pregnant. The flu vaccine is one pregnant women should consider.

One consideration in undergoing in vitro fertilization ( IVF ) treatment to have a baby is how many embryos to transfer into a woman's womb at once. One? Two? Three?