Topic description and stories

Mother and newborn baby

Nature’s epidural: Genetic variant may explain why some women don’t need pain relief during childbirth

21 Jul 2020

Women who do not need pain relief during childbirth may be carriers of a key genetic variant that acts a natural epidural, say scientists at the...

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Online atlas explores north-south divide in childbirth and child mortality during Victorian era

15 May 2018

A new interactive online atlas, which illustrates when, where and possibly how fertility rates began to fall in England and Wales during the...

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Opinion: Losing your virginity: how we discovered that genes could play a part

15 Apr 2016

John Perry and Ken Ong (MRC Epidemiology Unit) discuss how sexual milestones are influenced by our genes and how this can impact on broader health...

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freshvilli

Understanding the placenta: the key to healthy life

22 Aug 2012

The placenta is the interface between the mother and her baby, which means it is not only key to a successful pregnancy, it determines the future...

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Image from the Books and Babies exhibition at Cambridge University Library

Let's talk about sex!

07 Jul 2011

The history of human reproduction – via its communication through the ages – is examined in a ground-breaking exhibition opening this week at...

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Maternity Ward

Decrease in delivery-related infant deaths in Scotland

14 Aug 2009

A study has shown that over the last 20 years there has been a sharp decline in infant deaths during delivery for pregnancies which went to term. The...

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