Most women who undergo a cesarean childbirth are prescribed more opioid (narcotic) pain medications than needed upon release from the hospital, a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study shows.

A 10-year study, led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Katherine Hartmann, M.D., Ph.D., disrupts conventional wisdom that uterine fibroids cause miscarriages.

Hepatitis C infections among pregnant women nearly doubled from 2009-2014, likely a consequence of the country’s increasing opioid epidemic that is disproportionately affecting rural areas of states including Tennessee and West Virginia.

The latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update recommending that women who are pregnant or could become pregnant abstain from alcohol use prompted a Vanderbilt professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and her team to explore the patterns of alcohol use in early pregnancy.

Although nitrous oxide was less effective than epidural anesthesia for pain management during labor, mothers who used nitrous oxide were equally satisfied with their childbirth experience.

Complications related to opioid abuse occur in 54,000 pregnancies annually in the United States, and Tennessee ranks among the top 10 states in the number of opioid-dependent pregnant women.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is home to a specialized clinic for teens, adolescents and young adults focusing on bleeding disorders.