Childbirth depends not just on hormones, but on the uterus’s ability to sense physical force. Scientists found that pressure ...

You've made it through nine(ish) months of pregnancy, and now the big day has arrived: Your baby's birthday! You might be eager to take on the stages of labor, or you may be nervous about what's to ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Mothers delivering at Mercy Hospital Springfield now have a new option for managing pain during labor: nitrous oxide. Mercy recently began offering the new pain management method in ...

For one expectant mother, everything about pregnancy felt routine and reassuring, right up until the moment her heart ...

PIEZO1 transcripts in human uterine muscle at term. Green indicates smooth muscle fibers in the uterus, red marks PIEZO1 mRNA, and blue shows cell nuclei. LA JOLLA, CA—When labor begins, the uterus ...

Between 2003 and 2013, the United States was one of only eight countries that saw an increase in maternal mortality ...

Madison Patrick is a sociology and public health major and a 2024-25 Hackworth Fellow with the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Views are her own. Despite the invaluable contribution of medical ...

Labor occurring before 37 weeks of gestation (as determined from the first day of the last menstrual period or by ultrasound estimation of fetal age) is called premature labor. Regular uterine ...