birth defects

CHICAGO (AP) -- Researchers studying antibiotics in pregnancy have found a surprising link between common drugs used to treat urinary infections and birth defects.

Reassuringly, the most-used antibiotics in early pregnancy - penicillins - appear to be the safest....

(NIH/National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research) Although about half of all birth defects involve the face and skull, scientists remain unclear about why most occur.

The NIH's National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research announced it has issued the first 11 research and technology grants of its new FaceBase Consortium.

The five-year initiative will systematically compile the biological instructions to construct the middle region of the human face and precisely define the genetics underlying its common developmental disorders, such as cleft lip and palate.

A new study suggests that obesity during pregnancy is a powerful and far-reaching risk factor for birth defects.

Infants conceived with techniques commonly used in fertility clinics are two to four times more likely to have certain birth defects than are infants conceived naturally, a new study has found.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Diabetic women who get pregnant are three to four times more likely to have a child with birth defects than other women, according to new government research....