Sleeping position increases the risk of still birth

Pregnant women who sleep on their back during the later stages of pregnancy face an increased likelihood of suffering a stillbirth.

Fetus could experience reduced oxygen flow in the late stage of pregnancy, when a women is lying on her back the combined weight of the baby and the womb puts pressure on the mother's blood flow and this can restrict blood flow and oxygen to the baby.

A woman may experience disturbed breathing patterns when she is asleep on her back.
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Causes of miscarriage

The major structures of a fetal's heart form in four days, identifying the precise time when the four chambers of the heart develop opens up the possibility that doctors could eventually be able to monitor fetal during this critical phase of their development.
The research involved the imaging of fetal hearts with a gestational age range of 95 to 143 days in the womb, looking at how the heart developed 13 to 20 weeks into pregnancy.

The researchers used the magnetic resonance imaging MRI technology, specifically-written algorithms and 3D computer software to visualise the growing heart. They discovered that the most remarkable changes occurred over a four months period 124 days into the pregnancy.

Within this period, the muscle tissue of the heart rapidly organise. Cardiac fibres were laid down to form the helix shape of the heart within which the four chambers of the heart form. Without this essential architecture in place, the fetal heart cannot survive outside the womb.

Some miscarriages are caused by the failure of the heart to form normally,
there was a remarkable consistency around that fact that this phase of the heart's development started 124 days into pregnancy.

Researchers found increased levels of two proteins: connexin 40 and connexin 43.The expression of connexin 40 and connexin 43 helps cells in the heart to communicate with each other. As the amount of these proteins increases, cells can speak to each other more effectively.

Presently, doctors can effectively monitor a fetal heart after 20 weeks into a pregnancy, and by then developmental problems are difficult to resolve, the specialist imaging techniques used by the researchers could be adapted for use in hospital, this will allow doctors to spot whether a fetal heart is developing properly or not.
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Zika virus weakened immune system and deformed fetus

The Zika virus increases in pregnant women by suppressing their dampened immune systems and attacks their natural defenses, which allows the virus to directly attack the fetus. A woman's immune system naturally suppresses itself during pregnancy to keep the body from recognizing the fetus as a foreign body and attacking it, Zika uses this process, turning pregnant woman's immune defense so the virus can spread without any hindrance.

Researchers tested African and Asian strains of Zika in the blood samples of healthy men, women and pregnant women. Researchers discovered that the Asian strain of Zika targets monocytes, which are white blood cells that mount the body's immune defense by destroying viruses and bacteria, people can survive the attack, but pregnant women cannot because Zika exploits the existing process by which the body protects a fetus from immune attack. Zika virus suppresses immune system like HIV.

The virus goes in, multiplies, grows and then crosses the placenta attack the fetus and cause disease. The blood of pregnant women infected with Zika also showed abnormally high expression of two genes that have been previously associated with pregnancy complications. Microcephaly have been associated with mothers who were infected with the Zika virus before giving birth, a pregnant women naturally have higher levels of immune-suppressing M2 macrophages to prevent the womb from rejecting the fetus.

However, the Asian Zika virus boosts M2 macrophage reproduction, decreasing the infection fighting process and encouraging immune suppression. Researchers discovered that the Asian Zika virus is more dangerous during first and second trimester, when the virus can increase immune suppression. During the third trimester, the blood of infected pregnant women and non-pregnant women were about the same.

During pregnancy, the host body is prone to opportunistic infection
Previous clinical studies showed that Zika virus infection during the first and second trimesters of pregnancy are strongly associated with fetal abnormalities. These anomalies cause brain damage and developmental delays in babies even if they are born with normal-sized heads.
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Malaria drug protects fetuses from Zika

Zika virus infection can cause brain damage and sometimes death of fetus in the womb, it infects the fetus by manipulating the normal barrier to infection in the body.

Exposure to zika virus activated genes related to autophagy, the virus multiply in the placenta, autophagy process in the placenta promotes zika's survival and it infects the placental cells.

The malaria drug, Hydroxychloroquine suppresses the autophagy response, this reduces the virus in the fetuses and placentas.
With this suppression, their is less damage and the fetuses grow normally.

The malaria drug protects the fetus from the zika virus even when the virus is still present in the mother. It effectively blocks viral transmission to the fetus by interfering with the process of zika virus infection transmission and protects fetus from viral infection.

Hydroxychloroquine suppresses the autophagy response, this reduces the virus in the fetuses and placentas.
With this suppression their is less damage and the fetuses grow normally.
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Drinking of coffee may increase lifespan

Coffee contains a lot of compounds like caffeine, diterpenes and antioxidants that interact with the body systems and prevent so many diseases.

 It has a lot of antioxidants and phenolic compounds that play an important role in cancer and disease prevention.

Coffee reduces inflammation, controls glucose and strengthens the immune system. Drinking of coffee is associated with a reduced risk of death from circulatory and digestive tract diseases.

 It prevents womb and liver cancer and reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s. Moderate drinking of coffee every day is essential for sound health.

Dinking more than 0.4g of caffeine a day can cause anxiety, sleeplessness and disturbed heart rhythm.
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Prenatal exposure to alcohol may affect children's IQ

Drinking of alcohol during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in children, the alcohol molecule is very tiny and passes easily across the placenta from mother to fetus.

It may cause behavioral disorder and affects children's academic performance. The fetus experience delayed brain development in the womb because of alcohol.

Researchers examined children with prenatal alcohol exposure and children that were not exposed to alcohol on the cortical structure of their brains and academic performance.

The alcohol-exposed children performed worse than the other children in all academic areas.
 Their brain imaging showed several brain surface area clusters.

 The children without prenatal alcohol exposure showed good developmental pattern with good performance in all the academic tests.
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IVF babies may become overweight

According to the latest research, children born through In Vitro Fertilization IVF may become overweight. Hormones used to harvest women's eggs for IVF can make their children to be overweight, these hormones can alter their normal cells patterns and affect their genes.

Embryos that spend close to 5days growing in culture before being transferred to the mother’s womb are more likely to be born fatter than normal for their gestational age. Those that spend 2 to 3 days may not be very fat.

Starting life in a laboratory dish may increase storing of fat in their body, storing fat early may put IVF children at risk of cardiovascular disease in future.
IVF procedure may program them to store food as fat throughout their lives.

Chemicals used during IVF affect the way fetus absorb nutrients, make the children slightly smaller at birth but increase their weight gain when they are older compared to children that started their life in the womb.
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How fetuses react to face-like Images from the womb

Researchers projected light through the uterine wall of pregnant mothers, and discovered that fetuses at 34 weeks gestation will turn their heads to look at face-like images over other shapes.

The researchers tested the responses of 39 fetuses to face-like patterns of light presented to them in both upright and inverted pattern.

The projected light moved across their field of vision while researchers watched the fetuses' reactions using 4D ultrasound.

 The result showed that the developing babies turned their heads to look more often at face-like stimuli that were upright than those that were presented to them upside down.

The findings also confirm that fetuses have enough light to see and have visual experiences in the womb.

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Zika virus causes more diseases in children

Zika could be more dangerous to unborn babies because test on pregnant monkeys infected with the virus found that every single fetus had picked up some trace of Zika.

 The research team infected four pregnant rhesus macaque monkeys at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center with a Zika virus and
discovered that the virus was present in each monkey's fetus.

The research group also found damage from Zika in every part of the interface between mother and fetus - the placenta, amniotic fluid in the womb and the lining of uterus.

Three of the baby monkeys were born with small heads, but not as small as it would need to be to meet the human standard for diagnosing microcephaly.

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Artificial womb developed for premature babies

An artificial nutrient-rich amniotic fluid has been tested on foetal lambs equivalent to 161-days old foetus.

The artificial womb can give foetus the same protection woman womb can give; synthetic amniotic fluid that is full of nutrients flows in and out of the temperature-controlled container, it creates womb environment for premature foetus to develop their vital organs like lungs from 23 to 28 weeks.

Director of the Center for Fetal Research at the Children's hospital of Philadelphia, US, said the artificial womb will prevent illness suffered by premature babies by providing a medical technology that can create womb environment.

According to Dr Alan Flake, six preterm lambs were used to test the artificial womb, they could breathed and swallowed normally.

The animal grew wool and developed properly functioning nerves and organs, the artificial womb cannot replace woman's womb, the aim of developing artificial womb is  to help premature babies