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Study shows pregnancy linked to lower rates of self-harm
The team hopes that identifying those at risk will allow doctors to target resources to those who need them
Study to examine self-harm risk around pregnancy has shown that most women are generally less likely to harm themselves during and after pregnancy.
A research team at the University of Manchester revealed that in 1000 women, four are likely to self-harm over a year. This risk halves when women are pregnant to two according to the research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
The study involved analysing over 58,000 self-harm events in women aged 15 to 45 years between January 1990 and December 2017. The data was linked to 1.1 million pregnancies and their outcomes using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and the Pregnancy Register.
Women with a diagnosis of psychiatric disorders are at a higher background risk of self-harm but their risk is more than halved when pregnant.
Even after pregnancy, women over the age of 30 are at a lower risk of self-harm. The risk reduction at three to six months after pregnancy is 13 per cent of women who are aged 30 to 34. This rises to 27 per cent for women who are aged 35 to 45 in comparison to women of the same age who were not pregnant.
It also found that mothers under the age of 30 are more likely to self-harm between three to six months after giving birth.
Mothers aged 15 to 19 are 66 per cent more likely and 20 to 24-year-olds are more likely to self-harm between three to six months of giving birth. 25 to 29 years old were 15 per cent more likely in comparison to the same age groups who were not pregnant. The study also revealed that there was a small increase in risk posed in post-pregnancy by primarily younger women aged 15 to 29 years.
Adolescent women with a history of self-harm were likely to continue harming themselves during pregnancy.
Pregnancy and self-harm risk
The team noted that identifying those at risk will allow doctors to target resources at women who may need them most of all.
Lead author Dr Holly Hope said: “This study – which is the largest of its kind – makes important advances in our understanding of how pregnancy and the first year after giving birth affect self-harm risk. As we already know, self-harm among young women generally in the UK is increasing and self-harm is associated with up to 50 times higher risk of suicide in women.
Significantly, we find that the risk of self-harm is indeed higher among women under 30 after giving birth, but reassuringly, for women over 30, the risks of self-harm decrease both during and after pregnancy. Latterly, women are increasingly likely to wait a few years until they have a baby which could be down to a number of factors, including their education and employment choices.
Older women may be in a better financial and psychological position to care for themselves and their babies. Hormonal changes during pregnancy are intended to promote maternal attachment and increase a sense of wellbeing. However, this mechanism might be overridden by other factors in some younger women.”
She added: “Older women might also be in a better position to take advantage of health services which do a good job in signposting them to services if they need help.
This study shows us more clearly than before, in a contemporary population of women becoming pregnant, where the greatest risks of self-harm lie which means resources might be more focussed on those at-risk age groups so they can be monitored more effectively and referred for help more efficiently. The most deprived neighbourhoods where teenage pregnancy is more common might benefit from a similar focus.”
Dr Jo Black, chair of the Perinatal Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “By highlighting where resources are needed most, the findings could help ensure funding is better targeted to reach those at greatest risk.”
Ovarian cancer cells quickly activate survival responses after PARP inhibitor treatment, and a lung cancer drug could help block this, research suggests.
PARP inhibitors are a common treatment for ovarian cancer, particularly in tumours with faulty DNA repair. They stop cancer cells fixing DNA damage, which leads to cell death, but many tumours later stop responding.
Researchers identified a way cancer cells may survive PARP inhibitor treatment from the outset, pointing to a potential way to block that response. A Mayo Clinic team found ovarian cancer cells rapidly switch on a pro-survival programme after exposure to PARP inhibitors. A key driver is FRA1, a transcription factor (a protein that turns genes on and off) that helps cancer cells adapt and avoid death.
The team then tested whether brigatinib, a drug approved for certain lung cancers, could block this response and boost the effect of PARP inhibitors. Brigatinib was chosen because it inhibits multiple signalling pathways involved in cancer cell survival.
In laboratory studies, combining brigatinib with a PARP inhibitor was more effective than either treatment alone. Notably, the effect was seen in cancer cells but not normal cells, suggesting a more targeted approach.
Brigatinib also appeared to act in an unexpected way. Rather than working through the usual DNA repair routes, it shut down two signalling molecules, FAK and EPHA2, that aggressive ovarian cancer cells rely on. FAK and EPHA2 are proteins that relay survival signals inside cells. Blocking both at once weakened the cells’ ability to adapt and resist treatment, making them more vulnerable to PARP inhibitors.
Tumours with higher levels of FAK and EPHA2 responded better to the drug combination. Other data link high levels of these molecules to more aggressive disease, pointing to potential benefit in harder-to-treat cases.
Arun Kanakkanthara, an oncology investigator at Mayo Clinic and a senior author of the study, said: “This work shows that drug resistance does not always emerge slowly over time; cancer cells can activate survival programmes very early after treatment begins.”
John Weroha, a medical oncologist at Mayo Clinic and a senior author of the study, said: “From a clinical perspective, resistance remains one of the biggest challenges in treating ovarian cancer. By combining mechanistic insights from Dr Kanakkanthara’s laboratory with my clinical experience, this preclinical work supports the strategy of targeting resistance early, before it has a chance to take hold. This strategy could improve patient outcomes.”
Nighttime temperatures during pregnancy may be linked to a higher chance of an autism diagnosis in children, a recent study suggests.
The research tracked nearly 295,000 mother-child pairs in Southern California from 2001 to 2014 and linked warmer overnight temperatures with higher risk in early and late pregnancy.
Children of mothers exposed to higher than typical nighttime temperatures during weeks one to 10 of pregnancy had a 15 per cent higher risk of an autism diagnosis.
Exposure during weeks 30 to 37 was linked to a 13 per cent higher risk.
Lead author David Luglio, a post-doctoral fellow at Tulane University, said: “A key takeaway is that we identified specific windows when a mother and her developing child can be most affected by exposures to higher nighttime temperatures.
“This is critical and hopefully can help mothers prepare accordingly.”
The study is described as the first to examine how temperature may affect fetal neurodevelopment, the process by which a baby’s brain and nervous system form during pregnancy.
Extreme temperatures linked to increased risk were classified as above the 90th percentile, meaning 3.6°F hotter than average, and the 99th percentile, 5.6°F above average.
The association held even after researchers accounted for factors such as neighbourhood conditions, vegetation and fine-particle air pollution.
The study could not account for other factors such as access to air conditioning. Researchers did not find the same association with daytime temperatures, potentially because people spend more time away from home during the day.
“Heat waves are becoming more frequent, and people may only think of the dangers of daytime heat exposure,” said Mostafijur Rahman, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Tulane University.
“These results indicate a strong association between high nighttime temperatures during pregnancy and autism risk in children and show that we need to think about exposure to heat around the clock.”
The study did not examine how higher temperatures at night might affect prenatal development, though Luglio said it is possible that warmer nights disrupt sleep for pregnant mothers.
Previous research has suggested insufficient sleep during pregnancy may be linked to a higher risk of neurocognitive delays in children.
“Extreme heat exposure during pregnancy has been linked to a range of adverse health outcomes, including prenatal neurodevelopment delays and complications with an embryo’s development of a central nervous system,” Luglio said.
“The goal of our study was to specifically explore the link between prenatal heat exposure and autism diagnoses for the first time.”
Kindbody has launched a fertility platform integrating AI with clinical care and patient support for employers and health plans.
The platform will enter a pilot with select Kindbody employer clients in 2026, covering over three million lives, ahead of wider availability in 2027.
Building on the company’s clinical model, the platform aims to improve outcomes and cost efficiency across family-building journeys. It connects Kindbody-owned clinics, partner clinics and an integrated clinical app.
The app offers virtual care across conception, pregnancy and reproductive health, extending through the menopause transition.
Launch features include updates in medication management, third-party reproduction, adoption, pregnancy, men’s health and global programme design.
David Stern, chief executive of Kindbody, said: “With our next-generation fertility platform, Kindbody is redefining what comprehensive, intelligent and affordable family-building care looks like for employers, health plans and patients.
“By unifying best-in-class clinical care, AI-driven intelligence and whole-person support, we are making it easier and more cost-effective for more people to build the families they envision.”
Kindbody has expanded access via its national network of IVF centres, including IVIRMA, Inception Fertility and Ivy Fertility.
A new Fertility Medication Portal is designed to streamline authorisations so medicines can be dispensed on time, giving patients visibility from prescription to coverage, pharmacy fulfilment and delivery tracking.
Through KindMan, men’s health education, digital resources and integrated clinical care are expanding, including hormone management programmes.
Services cover andropause (age-related testosterone decline), erectile dysfunction, low testosterone and other male reproductive conditions.
Specialist fertility care includes semen analysis, diagnostic testing, male hormone panels, genetic testing, surgical sperm extraction and sperm cryopreservation.
Launching in the second quarter, a pregnancy support app will act as a digital companion for expecting and new parents, with resources, interactive tools and clinical assessments to identify social drivers of health and mental health needs during pregnancy and beyond.
Kindbody’s physician-led menopause programme provides consultations with board-certified obstetricians and gynaecologists to diagnose, treat and manage menopausal symptoms, including hormone replacement therapy where appropriate, with support from nutritionists, mental health therapists and pelvic floor specialists.
AI and analytics will be embedded across the care journey. An AI care navigator will guide employees from benefit activation through intake, triage and scheduling.
Tools will track benefits and treatment plans, showing coverage and expected out-of-pocket costs at each step.
AI-supported scribing will assist clinicians with documentation, and a predictor tool will estimate a patient’s likelihood of having a baby across different treatment paths.
In 2027, Kindbody plans a savings model for eligible large employers that it says will guarantee lower total fertility spend while improving clinical efficiency and patient experience.
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