Science Media Centre

A new study has suggested that exposure to  magnetic fields during pregnancy may be linked to asthma in children. However, experts are urging caution in the interpretation of the research. The research, published today in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, details a prospective study that recorded magnetic field exposure in pregnant mothers and subsequently [...]

A recent report on maternal and perinatal deaths has raised some tough questions about maternal care in New Zealand. The Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC) released a report this week which examines the state of New Zealand’s care of expecting and new mothers. The PMMRC reviews maternal deaths and all deaths of infants [...]

The publication of a New Zealand study examining the link between sleep habits and stillbirth in pregnancy has received strong international media interest. The research, published in the British Medical Journal, found that the risk of stillbirth for women who slept on their left side was 1.96 per 1000 compared with 3.93 per 1000 for [...]

A New Zealand study published today in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has examined whether snoring, sleep position, and other sleep practices in pregnant women are associated with risk of stillbirth. Researchers at the University of Auckland found that sleeping on the left side may be associated with a reduced risk of stillbirth, when compared with [...]

New Zealand scientists have helped establish a link between a mother’s diet while pregnant and the probability that her child will be obese. A team of scientists from New Zealand and the UK, including Sir Peter Gluckman of the Liggins Institute (NZ), examined epigentic modification (chemical changes in the DNA structure) in umbilical tissue from [...]

Today the Lancet published its comprehensive article series on stillbirth, drawing attention to the understated global prevalence of the phenomenon. One baby out of every 130 who reach the midpoint of pregnancy in New Zealand and Australia will be stillborn. Unexplained stillbirth is ten times more common that cot death (SIDS), and yet the issue [...]

Spacecraft’s progress tracked from NZ The Johannes Kepler unmanned spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the International Space Station after a successful launch from French Guiana yesterday. Progress of the automated transport vehicle which is being used to send supplies to the ISS, remove waste and to help reposition the ISS with the help of [...]

Researchers investigating effects of maternal diet on children’s health at the University of Auckland’s Liggins Institute are warning pregnant mums to be aware of how much fructose they consume. Fructose is a type of sugar that naturally occurs in fruit, vegetables and honey — but is increasingly added to a wide range of processed foods, [...]

A newly published paper has drawn a link between regular mobile phone use by pregnant women before and after their child is born, and later behavioural problems shown by the child, particularly if they begin using mobile phones early, too. The paper, “Cell phone use and behavioural problems in young children”,  was published in the [...]

Research published today in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, suggests children of  mothers who smoke heavily during pregnancy are more likely to become career criminals. Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health in the USsurveyed 3,700 mothers between 1959 and 1966 on their smoking habits during pregnancy. In 2000, criminal record checks [...]