Science Jan 06 A deep dive into newborns’ DNA may reveal potential disease risks — but is the testing worth it? By Andrew Joseph, STAT
Health May 17 Watch 5:26 The surprising thing about the declining U.S. birth rate More than 3.8 million babies were born in the U.S. last year, but the birth rate drop was the largest one-year decline since 2010. Why hasn’t the downward trend changed direction, even though economic conditions have improved? Amna Nawaz explores…
Health May 31 Watch 9:26 The science of nurturing and its impact on premature babies By William Brangham, Jason Kane
Health May 31 How music therapy helped my premature baby On the second day of my son's life, born 11 weeks early, a woman approached me in the NICU with a guitar and other instruments. As a music therapist, she said she had scientifically proven ways of alleviating the stress… By Terry Rubin
Nation May 11 Column: Why Facebook and other social media may fuel new mothers’ insecurity Scientists look into how often new parents use social media, why some use it more than others and what the impact might be on new parents’ mental health. By Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, The Conversation
Mar 05 Spike in syphilis among newborns driven by broader epidemic By Anna Gorman, Kaiser Health News The Central Valley — a vast agricultural and mostly low-income swath of California — has seen an unprecedented spike in congenital syphilis over the last few years. Continue reading
Mar 04 Step inside a wired nursery: Lots of tech — and not much evidence it’s helpful By Megan Thielking, STAT A flurry of high-tech baby products has hit the market in recent months, but experts say there hasn’t been thorough research on many of those products and warn that they can sometimes do more harm than good. Continue reading
Apr 18 Watch 5:48 Is a perfect storm of Zika virus conditions coming to the Gulf Coast? By PBS NewsHour In the wake of the CDC’s revelation that Zika virus causes microcephaly in infants, doctors are grappling with the thorny issue of whether they should recommend that women in high-risk areas avoid getting pregnant this summer. Hari Sreenivasan talks to… Continue watching
Jan 28 Watch 3:01 WHO to consider declaring international emergency over Zika virus By PBS NewsHour The World Health Organization offered a powerful new warning about the rapid spread of the Zika virus, which apparently causes birth defects such as microcephaly and neurological problems. Officials estimate that there could be 3 to 4 million cases in… Continue watching
Jan 20 Watch 7:38 If pregnant, beware of travel to countries with Zika virus By PBS NewsHour Transmitted by mosquitos, the Zika virus can cause babies to be born with unusually small heads and brain damage. It has spread from Brazil to several countries and territories in the Americas, with a handful of cases confirmed in the… Continue watching