The future of an infant born of an Indian surrogate mother is uncertain as her biological parents, a Japanese couple, divorced after conception.

Abandoned by her Japanese and the Indian mother, the baby is now under her grandmother's care in a hospital in Jaipur, in western Rajasthan state

Despite being banned by the federal health agency, there has been a continued use of over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications in children, new studies have shown.

There has been a sudden rise in the number of small children taken to the emergency room after they stop breathing or lose consciousness from consuming over-the-counter cold medications in their systems, two studies appearing in the August issue of Pediatrics say

Women diagnosed with diabetes before their pregnancy are at a greater risk of giving birth to a baby with a birth defect or multiple defects than their non-diabetic counterparts, according to a new study.

The study carried out by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found diabetic women are three to four times more likely to have a child with single birth defects, while the risk for multiple defects is eightfold

A Health Canada expert panel has recommended a reduction of exposure to fluoride, especially among young Canadians. Cuts on fluoride levels in drinking water, toothpaste and infant formula were among the measures suggested.

While fluoride is known to be a cavity fighter, the chemical has been linked by some public health advocates to lower intelligence, a rare type of bone cancer and mottling of children's teeth

Infant deaths directly related to preterm births have increased, especially for non-Hispanic black women, according to the Centers for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics.

African-Americans are 2.4 times as likely to die as infants, compared with white newborns. Among white children, the infant-mortality rate rose to 5.73 per 1,000 live births in 2005, compared with 5.66 in the previous year. Overall, the U.S. infant-mortality rate rose to 6.86 per 1,000 in 2005, from 6.78 in 2004, according to the data