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Dr. Kliman joins guest host Flora Lichtman to talk about his research, and the importance of studying the placenta as a way to better understand what leads to miscarriage and stillbirth.

Every year, there are approximately 5 million pregnancies in the United States. One million of those pregnancies end in miscarriage, and more than 20,000 end in stillbirth. Up to half of these pregnancy losses have unidentified causes. Recent and ongoing research, though, suggests that the placenta may hold the key to understanding and preventing some pregnancy complications, such as preterm birth and maternal and infant mortality. A closer look at the placenta—including its size and function—may have a significant impact on stillbirth rates.

If any institution can bend the curve on preventable stillbirth, it is the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Yet, despite clear evidence and successful state initiatives, the ACOG has been frustratingly slow to revise its clinical guidelines.

In 2013, Samantha Durante Banerjee’s daughter, Alana, was stillborn. The tragedy was obvious, but the comforting words about trying again and being young always fell short.

In a new study, Yale researchers discovered that SARS-CoV-2 doesn’t linger in the placenta of patients who become infected with the virus during pregnancy.

The virus that causes COVID-19 does not appear to linger in placental tissue after a pregnant patient recovers from acute infection, according to a case-control study published this week in JAMA Network Open. The findings suggest that placental infection is unlikely in the weeks and months after illness, even in cases with adverse outcomes. “Our motivation for doing the study was to see if there was 'long COVID' in the placenta,” Harvey J. Kliman, MD, PhD, director of the Reproductive and Placental Research Unit at Yale School of Medicine and senior study author, told CIDRAP news in an email. “This is one of the scariest aspects of COVID: long COVID leading to chronic brain issues.” “We just didn’t know if this could also happen in the placenta, which is a magnet for the SARS-CoV-2 virus (because the placenta is covered with ACE2 [angiotensin-converting enzyme 2], the receptor for the spike protein of the virus),” he added. “So we thought it was necessary to look at this issue.”

Measuring the placenta is not a common prenatal protocol but it could save a baby's life, according to a Yale researcher.

Since 1998, Women’s Health Research at Yale’s signature Pilot Project Program has provided critical seed funding for Yale faculty examining sex differences across health in conditions that affect women differently, disproportionately, and uniquely. Our program serves as an incubator for catalyzing new approaches to understanding the health of women, and/or the influence of sex differences on health, consistent with the NIH definition. The 2025-26 application process is now open.

Asking better questions, listening more closely, and monitoring more carefully can mean the difference between life and death.