Topic description and stories

Surviving birth

10 Dec 2020

Researchers at one of the busiest maternity hospitals in the world aim to help more women survive complications giving birth.

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Hand Smoking Woman

Smoking and pre-eclampsia may cause fertility problems for offspring, study suggests

29 Mar 2019

Low levels of oxygen in the womb – which can be caused by smoking or conditions such as pre-eclampsia – may cause problems with fertility later in...

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IMG_1331

Breath of life: how your risk of heart disease may stem back to your time in the womb

11 Jul 2017

Smoking, lack of exercise, bad diet and our genes are all well-known risk factors for heart disease, cancer and diabetes. But, as researchers are...

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Getting the true measure of pregnancy

12 Jun 2014

One in 200 babies dies before birth in the UK. A study aimed at determining how to reduce the risk of a pregnancy coming to a devastating end is now...

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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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blood pressure

Blood pressure breakthrough holds real hope

07 Oct 2010

Scientists have discovered a mechanism which raises blood pressure in pre-eclampsia, a potentially deadly condition which occurs during pregnancy.

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Placenta

The balance between mother and fetus in ‘no-man’s-land’

01 Apr 2009

New insights into pregnancy are resulting from research on the interaction between mother and fetus at the placental interface.

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La Paz, Chile

Prenatal origins of heart disease

04 Jan 2009

Studies in La Paz, the highest city in the world, are helping to uncover a link between prenatal conditions and heart disease in later life.

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Human placental villi showing signs of oxidative stress

Great expectations in pregnancy research

01 Feb 2008

Most pregnancies develop normally but when complications arise they can have devastating effects. Two recent initiatives in Cambridge hope to deliver...

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