Cytomegalovirus is the most common cause of congenital virally induced hearing loss. Maternal infection is most often asymptomatic as is the infection in the newborn. Hearing loss occurs in both clinically apparent infection and in the asymptomatic infection. Current methods of detection, treatment, and prevention and research efforts are…

We analyze the relationship between prenatal WIC participation and birth outcomes in New York City from 1988 - 2001. The analysis is unique for several reasons. First, we have over 800,000 births to women on Medicaid, the largest sample ever used to analyze prenatal participation in WIC. Second, we focus on measures of fetal growth distinct from…

Expression of the immediate-early genes (IEGs) has been shown to be induced by activity-dependent synaptic plasticity or behavioral training and is thought to play an important role in long-term memory. In the present study, we examined the induction and expression of the IEG-encoded protein Egr-1 during an in vitro neural correlate of eyeblink…

This fact sheet provides data on infants, toddlers and young children who are experiencing high stress as a result of a number of risk factors specifically identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004), including substantiated abuse or neglect, foster care placement, homelessness, exposure to family…

Exposure to alcohol in utero is considered to be the leading cause of developmental disabilities of known etiology. The most severe consequence of such exposure, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), is characterized by a distinct constellation of characteristic facial anomalies, growth retardation, and central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction. Some…

Research from a variety of disciplines indicates that maternal cigarette smoking (MCS) during pregnancy is associated with an array of problematic outcomes, including various measures of criminal offending. Although some researchers have applied Moffitt's developmental taxonomy as a framework for understanding this relationship, this line of…

This bibliography, containing over 1,000 entries from the period 1968 to June, 1991, was compiled to assist in the development of a report to Congress on the impact (both maternal and fetal) of substance abuse on pregnancy. Topics include pregnancy outcome, child health issues, legal and political issues, epidemiological aspects of substance abuse…

A study examined the readership of state cooperative extension offices' home learning programs--nine series of booklets of information about pregnancy, infant development, and parenting, mailed to parents in ten states to coincide with pregnancy stage and baby's age in months. The reading level of the series varied from sixth to eighth-grade…

Environmental influences can significantly affect (both positively and negatively) the developing child. Three ways in which the environment affects the developing organism are induction, facilitation, and maintenance. In the case of induction the presence or absence of specific stimuli totally determines whether or not a particular developmental…

Compared was the relationship of rate of intrauterine growth of 488 low-birth-weight infants (between 1500 and 2500 grams) to their postnatal growth up to 10 years of age. (DB)

Six papers from a 1978 conference on birth defects focus on prevention. G. Stickle ("The Health of America's Babies: How Do We Stack Up?'" reviews risk in pregnancy, cites inadequate prenatal care and maternal nutrition, and discusses examples of how the United States is not applying its knowledge of how to improve pregnancy outcome. In "Genetic…

A total of 225 mothers, ages 19 to 64, were asked how they felt about their children (N=309): (1) upon knowledge of pregnancy, (2) at the quickening, (3) at birth, and (4) at the time of the interview. Results contradict some of the rationale behind the current liberalized abortion arguments by showing that initially unwanted children are loved as…

Provides findings of a study in which it was found that asymmetries in the size of the two feet were strongly related to sex and handedness; right-handed males having larger right feet and right-handed females having larger left feet, the reverse being seen in non-right-handed individuals. Differences were apparent in children even younger than…

A questionnaire given to high school students revealed that there is a wide difference between males and females and between caucasians and ethnic groups of knowledge and understanding of birth defects, conception, and childbearing. (JD)

During a period of increasing unemployment and decreased Medicaid eligibility, more women residents of low-income census tracts in Washington State received delayed prenatal care or none at all and delivered proportionately more infants of low birthweight. The incidence of maternal anemia also may have increased. (Author/GC)