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Pregnancy

During and after pregnancy, hormones drive profound changes in the brain’s structure and function.

Pregnancy Changes Mothers’ Brains. These Recent Discoveries Are Showing Us How

“Baby brain” isn’t the deficit it’s stereotyped to be, research suggests. Neural adaptations during pregnancy can prime soon-to-be-moms to become more attuned to their children and enhance social cognition

Asian elephant Nhi Linh, who stands in the foreground, is pregnant. Behind her is Spike, who sired the calf.

This ‘Feisty’ Asian Elephant at the National Zoo Is Pregnant. She May Birth the First Calf Born There in Nearly 25 Years

With fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants estimated to be remaining in the wild, the Smithsonian’s announcement gives hope to those working to preserve the endangered species

New research suggests a genetic dynamic that may have contributed to Neanderthals' extinction.

A Single Gene Could Have Contributed to Neanderthals’ Extinction, Study Suggests

New research posits that a genetic incompatibility between female offspring of humans and Neanderthals and their children could have led to pregnancy complications and the eventual end of the species

A mother breastfeeds a baby at home

Breastfeeding Has Long Been Linked to Reducing Cancer Risk. Scientists May Have Just Discovered Why

Patients with a history of breastfeeding showed higher levels of specialized immune cells in their breasts that may protect against malignant cancers

Postpartum depression affects some one in eight women in the United States. It typically occurs in the first weeks after childbirth, after a sudden drop in levels of estrogen and progesterone.

A Blood Test Can Now Predict a Mother’s Risk of Postpartum Depression

Scientists are learning more about this leading complication of childbirth, and treatments are improving

An egg with a human skin cell nucleus before fertilization

Scientists Made Functional Human Eggs With Skin Cells in ‘Proof of Concept’ for Advancing Fertility

The research could open up avenues for fertility treatments after additional refinement and trials, but it also raises ethical concerns

Pygmy seahorses are exceptional camouflage artists.

These Bumpy Little Seahorses Are Amazing Camouflage Artists. Scientists Pinpoint the Gene Loss Behind Their Special Traits

Bargibant’s pygmy seahorses look almost exactly like the gorgonian corals they live in, thanks in part to their unusually stubby snouts

A human embryo embeds itself into a fake uterus created by researchers.

See the First 3D Images of a Human Embryo Implanting, Shedding Light on the Crucial but Little-Known Process

A new study shows how human embryos reshape their environment by pulling on uterine tissue

Lead author Judith Pardo-Pérez where the fossil, nicknamed Fiona, was discovered.

A Rare, Pregnant Ichthyosaur Fossil Discovered in Chile Is Revealing More Secrets About the Early Cretaceous World

The fossil helps scientists better understand not just the animal, but our planet’s geology

The Aska figurine is the only known depiction of pregnancy from the Viking Age.

New Research

How Did Vikings View Pregnant Women? New Research Reveals That They Were Sometimes Depicted With Weapons

Researchers studied Old Norse literature and archaeological evidence to shed new light on women’s experiences of pregnancy during the Viking Age

A group of female South Korean free divers on Jeju Island, known as the Haenyeo, exit the water after catching marine snails in November 2015.

South Korea’s Female Free Divers May Have Evolved to Thrive Underwater, Study Finds

The Haenyeo, a group of skilled divers on Jeju Island, plunge beneath the ocean’s surface without any breathing equipment, thanks to a combination of their training and genetics

Blood type, metabolism, exercise, shirt color and even drinking beer can make individuals especially delicious to mosquitoes.

Ask Smithsonian

Why Do Mosquitos Bite Some People More Than Others? Your Blood Type, Sweat Contents and Even Alcohol Consumption May Make You More Attractive to the Pesky Insects

Scientists are working hard to discover the factors that drive the blood-sucking insects to target certain individuals

The city of Potosí rests at high altitude in Bolivia.

Can Researchers Find Remedies for the Problems Created by High-Altitude Pregnancies?

In people not adapted to life at altitude, the sparse oxygen can impair fetal growth, causing issues that can last a lifetime

A pregnant mother’s mental wellness can impact her child’s future physical, mental and behavioral health

The Future of Mental Health

Can a Mother’s Mental Health Impact a Baby in the Womb?

Growing research indicates a pregnant woman’s stress level and overall mental well-being can affect fetal and child development, yet access to prenatal mental health care remains inadequate

DCPA is used on crops such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions.

‘Dangerous’ Pesticide That Could Harm Fetuses Is Pulled From the Market in Historic Move by EPA

Often used to kill weeds around crops, DCPA poses a health risk to the unborn babies of pregnant farmworkers, according to the agency

At the beginning of June, aquarium officials announced Charlotte was no longer pregnant due to a reproductive disease.

Charlotte the ‘Pregnant Virgin’ Stingray Dies After Diagnosis of Reproductive Disease

The animal drew attention earlier this year for becoming pregnant despite having no male ray in her tank

Charlotte is a round stingray, a species named for its circular, disk-shaped body.

‘Pregnant Virgin’ Stingray Won’t Give Birth After All—Here’s Why

Charlotte, a female round stingray in North Carolina who has gathered a legion of online fans, is no longer pregnant due to a “rare reproductive disease”

An image from an electron microscope of Treponema pallidum, the bacteria that causes syphilis. In 2022, the number of reported cases of syphilis in the United States was the highest it has been since 1950.

Syphilis Cases in the U.S. Are the Highest Since 1950

Diagnoses of the sexually transmitted infection rose by nearly 80 percent between 2018 and 2022, according to a new report from the CDC

Female northern white rhinos Najin and Fatu are the last of their species and reside at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.

World’s First IVF Rhino Pregnancy Could Save a Nearly Extinct Subspecies

Only two northern white rhinos remain, but the new reproductive breakthrough may pull them back from the brink of erasure

Around 80 percent of pregnant people experience morning sickness, or bouts of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

Why Most Pregnant People Experience Morning Sickness—and How It Could Be Treated

A hormone produced by the fetus may induce nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, a new study finds

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