Topic description and stories

Aristotle's compleat and experienc'd midwife

Much ado about babies

23 Jul 2013

The management of childbirth and care of newborns have always been hotly-debated topics. PhD candidate Leah Astbury looks at narratives of...

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Family bonds: how does surrogacy impact on relationships?

08 Jul 2013

Preliminary results from a pioneering study at Cambridge University paint a positive picture of the relationships formed between surrogates and the...

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Litte hand

New conceptions: single mothers by sperm donation

25 Apr 2013

Sophie Zadeh, a PhD candidate in the Centre for Family Research, is contributing to a new study of the well-being of single mothers by sperm donation...

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Cast of Laetoli footprints, Tanzania, in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Natural killer cells played a vital role in human evolution

08 Feb 2013

Natural killer cells – a vital part of the immune system – have a dual role in protecting against infection and ensuring reproduction. Scientists...

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freshvilli

Understanding the placenta: the key to healthy life

22 Aug 2012

The placenta is the interface between the mother and her baby, which means it is not only key to a successful pregnancy, it determines the future...

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Pregnant woman

Delivering better ways of preventing stillbirth

11 May 2012

Despite recent dramatic reductions in cot death rates in the UK, and the development of sophisticated screening for Down’s syndrome, preventing...

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Rainy season in The Gambia

Exposure to micronutrients prior to pregnancy has been associated with gene modifications in offspring

22 Feb 2012

Scientists find that micronutrients affect methylation, which has been associated with changes in the immune system.

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Mouse embryo development

Under the Microscope #3 - Mouse embryo

26 Jan 2012

In this video, we see a mouse embryo developing. Dr Erica Watson tells us that studying this process helps us better understand human pregnancy.

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Human egg injected with sperm

Selecting the fittest embryos for survival

10 Aug 2011

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a new technique which could significantly increase success rates of pregnancies and reduce...

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baby in the womb

You are what your mother ate

21 Mar 2011

Research provides new insight into why poor diet during pregnancy negatively affects offspring’s long term health.

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Foetus

Immune interaction optimises foetal nourishment during pregnancy

08 Feb 2011

Paternal genes advise maternal immune cells on how to build the best womb for developing foetuses, researchers have found.

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Children's building blocks

Amniocentesis: a key to identify autism in the womb?

04 Jan 2011

Cambridge researchers are pioneering a new test for autism in the womb, by measuring the levels of testosterone produced by the foetus, which makes...

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