Women's Health: Relationship between asthma, cortisol, and complications in pregnancy ♦ Home births lead to higher infant mortality,♦ Socially integrated women have lower suicide risk

Blood markers identify women at risk for postpartum depression The hormone oxytocin, sometimes called 'the love hormone,' may be a factor in postpartum depression, when a mother has a lower than normal level. A blood marker now may help identify the risk.

Home births lead to higher infant mortality, at least for mothers living in poorer areas Home births lead to higher infant mortality than hospital births, at least for mothers living in poorer areas. This is the conclusion of a new study that examines 356,412 low-risk Dutch women who delivered between 2000 and 2008 and who were allowed to choose between a home and a hospital birth.

Hair samples may offer new insights into the relationship between asthma, cortisol, and complications in pregnancy Hair samples can be used to measure the effects of asthma on the cortisol levels of women during pregnancy, according to new research. This research also shows that levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone, tend to be lower among pregnant women with asthma than among pregnant women without the chronic, inflammatory lung disease

Socially integrated women have lower suicide risk Women who were socially well integrated had a lower risk for suicide in a new analysis of data from the Nurses' Health Study, according to an article. Suicide is among the top 10 leading causes of death among middle-age women in the United States.

Health Research: Scientists set out to build a better gut ♦ Smoking increases likelihood of twins ♦ Text messages support mothers with postpartum depression

New genetic mutation could signal start of malaria drug resistance in Africa Early indicators of the malaria parasite in Africa developing resistance to the most effective drug available have been confirmed. Investigators found Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites with a mutation to the gene Ap2mu were less sensitive to the drug artemisinin.

Text messages a good way to support mothers with postpartum depression New research explores the feasibility of helping low-income mothers through postpartum depression using text messages. The objective of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of sending supportive text messages to low-income mothers of racial and ethnic minority backgrounds with postpartum depression

Diabetes perceptions vary according to risk factors,  Differing perceptions among adult populations at-risk for diabetes have been uncovered by researchers, which may offer new approaches to diabetes education and prevention. The way that people mentally represent their conditions has a concrete effect on the way that they manage these conditions on their prognoses.

Smoking and mother's genetics combine to increase likelihood of twins African American mothers who smoke and have a genetic profile that includes a single nucleotide polymorphism, SNP, of the TP53 gene have an increased likelihood of having twins,

To fight nasty digestive bugs, scientists set out to build a better gut – using stem cells If you’ve ever been hit with an ‘intestinal bug’, you’ve felt the effects of infectious microbes on your digestive system. But scientists don’t fully understand what’s going on in gut infections like that – or in far more serious ones. Now, a team of scientists will tackle that issue in a new way