Category: Pregnancy

A new innovation makes it possible, for the first time, to quantitatively assess children’s spontaneous movement in the natural environment. Researchers have developed a smart jumpsuit, or a garment that accurately measures the spontaneous and voluntary movement of infants from the age of five months. Details on their motility help in assessing abnormal neurological development, […]

Experts in the emotional needs of small children say increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol in babies and small children who are separated from their parents, especially their mothers, could have a long-term genetic impact on future generations. In a commentary published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the authors say […]

Researchers — and parents — have long known that babies learn to speak by mimicking the words they hear. But a new study shows that babies also might try to imitate the singing they hear in songs. As part of the study, scientists captured audio of a 15-month-old boy making sounds similar to the beginning […]

According to a new study, sleep problems among infants are very common and normally improve by the time the child reaches the age of two. The study was carried out by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the University of Turku. The study found that large changes take place in the sleep […]

Following a premature birth it is important that the parents and the infant quickly establish a good relationship. Researchers at Linköping University have studied the relationship between mothers and infants who have continuous skin-to-skin contact during the entire period from birth to discharge from the hospital. The results show that continuous skin-to-skin contact does not […]

Most youth living with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) have not been diagnosed, according to a new prevalence study from researchers at DePaul University and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, published by the journal Child & Youth Care Forum. Leonard A. Jason, a professor of psychology at DePaul University, led the […]

Knowledge of multiple languages has long been shown to have lifelong benefits, from enhancing communication skills to boosting professional opportunities to staving off the cognitive effects of aging. When researchers at the University of Washington found that even babies whose parents are monolingual could rapidly learn a second language in a small classroom environment, a […]

A new study from researchers at Western University and Queen’s University definitively shows that regular exposure to THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, during pregnancy has significant impact on placental and fetal development. With more than a year since the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, the effects of its use during pregnancy are […]

Have you ever played with a baby and felt a sense of connection, even though they couldn’t yet talk to you? New research suggests that you might quite literally be “on the same wavelength,” experiencing similar brain activity in the same brain regions. A team of Princeton researchers has conducted the first study of how […]

A major study led by researchers at La Trobe University in Australia has identified key themes that will be used to inform strategies to support Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents in the first years of their children’s lives. The Healing the Past by Nurturing the Future project aims to break the cycle of […]