pregnancy

Women who follow vegan diets during pregnancy may have an increased risk of developing preeclampsia and giving birth to underweight newborns, suggests an observational study published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. In the investigation, more than 65,000 women identified themselves as omnivores, more than 800 as vegetarians -in some of their different modalities- and 18 as vegans.

A study that has analysed more than three million pregnancies with more than 130,000 miscarriages has concluded that the use of benzodiazepines during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage. The results are published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Babies' brains specialise in their native language from pregnancy, according to a study carried out in France. The research team used encephalograms to measure the brain activity of 33 infants born to French-speaking mothers while listening to a story in French, English or Spanish. The results provide "the most compelling evidence to date that language experience already shapes the functional organization of the infant brain, even before birth," the authors write in Science Advances.

A study in mice found "mild metabolic and neuropsychological malprogramming" in the offspring of females who, during gestation and lactation, had ingested emulsifiers, substances used to improve the texture of ultra-processed foods. The article, led by a team from IDIBAPS in Barcelona and published in PLoS Biology, states that the consumption during these periods of carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate 80 - two common emulsifiers - diluted in water was associated with metabolic and cognitive deficits in the mouse offspring.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended marketing authorisation in the European Union for Abrysvo vaccine to protect against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease in infants up to six months of age. It is the first vaccine of its kind indicated for passive immunisation of newborns through administration to the mother during pregnancy. It is also indicated for people over 60 years of age. The European Commission now has to decide on its EU-wide marketing authorisation.

A journal article published in the BMJ discusses the potential adverse effects associated with GSK and Pfizer's RSV vaccines in the face of a possible increase in preterm births and argues for further study of the risks and benefits of the drug.

A study has associated the consumption of a high-fat diet in pregnant primates with alterations in the development of immune cells in the bone marrow of the foetuses. The results are published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

A study published in the journal PLOS ONE has found an association between paracetamol consumption during pregnancy and attention and sleep problems in these children at three years of age.

Analysis of 45 commonly used chemicals in more than 1,000 pregnant women in six countries, including Spain, finds a link between increased exposure to these compounds and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children, according to research published in JAMA Network Open. It is the first comprehensive study of prenatal exposure to these chemicals in combination, as they occur in real life.

During confinement, pregnant women suffered more stress than usual among pregnant women, according to a study conducted at Vall d'Hebron Hospital. A new result along the same lines also finds effects on the brain development of the foetus. But the period of neurodevelopment spans childhood and adolescence, so there are many opportunities to favourably influence this process.