Gastroschisis and Survival Odds: A study conducted by Johns Hopkins surgeons finds that when a baby is born with a low risk version of gastroschisis, where he is treated can make the difference between life and death. Gastroschisis is a condition in which the baby develops with a hole in the abdomen. In low risk cases, the hole is the only abnormality. Generally, it is easy to repair and 97% of babies survive. However, some hospitals have a death rate for babies born with low risk gastroschisis that is three to five times the national average. “We went into this prepared to see some differences, but we didn’t expect to see these striking variations from hospital to hospital in these fairly uncomplicated cases,” says investigator Meghan Arnold, M.D., a surgical resident at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. (You can learn more about gastroschisis in this earlier MomSquawk post.)

Epilepsy Drugs and Fertility: Researchers at the National Center for Epilepsy report that two popular epilepsy drugs, carbamazepine and valproate, have been associated with reduced fertility. Both drugs have already been associated with pregnancy risks, as they pose a risk of autism and reduced IQ in the developing baby. As for fertility, the researchers find that once a woman stops taking the drug, her fertility health normalizes.