It may be mind-boggling but it appears that pregnant teenagers are deliberately smoking in order to deliver smaller babies, hoping to make labor pains less painful.

The Royal College of Midwives stated that their staff has run into several girls who believe smoking would decrease pain during labor

Researchers say that depression during the nine months of pregnancy may be common. They are encouraging those who feel blue during the period of pregnancy to get medical advice.

Annette Briley and her team from Tommy's Baby Charity looked at a total of 1,000 women and how they felt during their pregnancy

Researchers report that pregnant women who have breast cancer can be treated safely with chemotherapy during the second and third trimesters. Most of the babies will not experience pronounced short-term problems linked to maternal treatment.

Researchers at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston write, "Further follow-up of the children is required to determine the potential long-term effects of this exposure...However, our short-term data is reassuring

A study by researchers at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has revealed that childless women and the ones who were overweight in their teens or gain excess pounds later are at increased risks of contracting ovarian cancer.

In the study which involved 2,110 women with and without ovarian cancer, researchers found that the women who were relatively heavy, either in recent years or at the age of 18, were more likely than their thinner peers to develop the disease

In a recent report, the U.S. charity, Save the Children, found that Afghanistan has the world's second-highest rate of newborn deaths, 60 per 1,000 births, just below Liberia.

According to Afghan tradition, children are considered as a blessing from heaven. Consequently, the country has one of the world's highest birthrates