New Jersey Newborns to be Screened for Congenital Heart Disease

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie recently signed into law a bill that will require every newborn in the state to be screened for congenital heart disease, reports the Star-Ledger. According to the news provider, the tests will be conducted in order to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood of the newborns, in addition to how well the baby's heart and lungs are functioning. "Before they leave the hospital, the 102,000 babies born in our state each year will now have a simple, painless screening test to ensure that any hidden, but potentially life-threatening heart defects will be detected," [...]

Extra Weight Gain During Pregnancy Linked to Obesity in Babies

A new study presented recently at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Boston, Massachusetts, indicates that women who gain too much weight during pregnancy are more likely to deliver babies who have too much body fat. According to WebMD, the evidence of the link was maintained even in women who were at a normal weight prior to becoming pregnant. Still, study researcher Dr. Jami Josefson from Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago said that the weight gain during pregnancy was just one reason behind the increase in the prevalence of childhood obesity. "Excessive weight gain during pregnancy is certainly [...]

Research Could Help Prevent Baby Brain Injuries

New research being conducted by a doctor in the Denver, Colorado area could ultimately lead to potential brain injury prevention techniques for newborn babies, reports The Denver Channel. According to the news source, pediatric neurologist Jennifer Armstrong-Wells is in the process of leading the first newborn brain injury study to initially focus on high-risk mothers prior to the birth of their babies. Armstrong-Wells and her colleagues are reportedly taking blood samples from the mother before and after birth, examining the blood cord and placenta, and following the babies for a significant period of time after birth, the news source said. [...]

Saliva Test Could Help Identify Hearing Loss Birth Defect

A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that a newborn saliva test could potentially identify nearly all cases of a virus linked to birth defects such as hearing loss. According to HealthDay, the new test could give doctors a better opportunity to prevent or treat deafness in the babies caused by the virus, referred to as cytomegalovirus. The saliva test could ultimately replace the traditional "heel stick" blood test conducted on newborns that generally misses between 60 and 70 percent of cases, reports the news provider. "The challenge is, unlike the dried blood spot [heel [...]

Epilepsy Drug Link to Birth Defects Could Depend on Dosage

A new study published online in the journal The Lancet Neurology found that four of the five most popular epilepsy drugs seem to increase risks of birth defects, with such risks elevated with higher doses of the medications. HealthDay reports that the drugs that appeared to raise the risk of birth defects included carbamazepine, lamotrigine, valproic acid and phenbobarbital. The researchers noted that the risks increased with higher doses, but added that the majority of the women examined ultimately delivered healthy babies. "It is easy to recommend against use of a specific drug (valproic acid, for instance) because of a [...]