fetal development

Aberrant immune activation, the main cause of prematurity and stillbirths, could be preventable through interventions such as maternal vaccination. 

Thanks to continued weekly medications, a 16-month-old girl shows no symptoms of a severe genetic disease that typically kills children before they turn two.

Pups born to mice whose mothers had been fed a high-fat diet showed social deficits, a study shows. 

An epigenome-wide association study found more than a dozen methylation changes in placental DNA that correlated with expectant mothers’ self-reports of depression and stress during their pregnancy.

By measuring various pollutants in the immediate vicinity of pregnant women and tracking brain development of their children, researchers in Barcelona aim to untangle any influence the former has on the latter.

High altitude is a natural laboratory for investigating pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, that restrict a fetus’s oxygen supply.

See a news report on a study of expectant mothers with SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Compared with Zika and cytomegalovirus, the virus that causes COVID-19 appears to have a harder time penetrating the placenta and moving to a woman’s unborn baby.

The virus rarely spreads from mother to child before birth, but it can—and researchers are starting to investigate the path it takes.

Using advanced microscopy and imaging techniques, scientists have revealed new parts of the human body and overturned previous misconceptions.

The last few years have yielded new insights into human anatomy. Explore this interactive graphic to learn about some of these discoveries.  

Rodent and human studies have revealed a multitude of effects starting during gestation and lasting into adulthood.

Doctors treated the fetus, who has alpha thalassemia major, with cells from her mother’s bone marrow.

Signaling pathways triggered by the mother’s immune system may cause complications during fetal development.

High-resolution MRI reveals that human fetal hearts rapidly develop their major structures within a four-day period.