Birth

NEW ORLEANS — Live birth rate was higher and preterm delivery risk lower with gestational carriers, or surrogates, compared with assisted reproduction cycles not using a gestational carrier, according to study findings.

Topical 0.5% timolol maleate hydrogel may be a better alternative to oral propranolol in the treatment of infantile hemangiomas, according to a study.

Risk-stratified timed birth at term, either via labor induction or cesarean delivery, may more than halve the risk for at-term preeclampsia, a leading cause of maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity, researchers reported.

Covis Pharma Group has submitted a response to the presiding officer’s report on the FDA advisory committee hearing on the proposal to withdrawal approval for a preterm birth prevention drug, according to a press release.

A higher concentration of urinary phthalate metabolites in pregnant women is associated with a higher risk for preterm birth, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

In an analysis published in Birth, researchers identified four themes that impact people’s decisions about birth setting in the United States: safety, external influences, choice and control and access.

Women who lived within 10 km of an oil or gas well that was hydraulically fractured during 1 year preconception or during pregnancy were at higher risk for adverse birth outcomes, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics.

A new AAP report describing seven alternative birth practices and the risk for infection in exposed newborns was compiled to help educate providers who may be asked to counsel expectant or new parents, the AAP said.

Community births — at home or at freestanding birth centers — increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers reported.

The fetal gut microbiome of healthy term infants developed during and after birth but not before, according to research published in Nature Microbiology.