About Reports

IOM reports provide objective and straightforward advice to decision makers and the public. This site includes IOM reports published after 1998. All reports from the IOM and the National Academies, including those published before 1998, are available from the National Academies Press.

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  Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public: A Summary of the February 2009 Summit Released: November 4, 2009

  On February 25-27, 2009, the Institute of Medicine convened the Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public in Washington, DC. The Summit brought together more than 600 scientists, academic leaders, policy experts, health practitioners, advocates, and other participants from many disciplines to examine the practice of integrative medicine, its scientific basis, and its potential for improving health.
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  Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Reexamining the Guidelines Released: May 28, 2009

  It has been nearly two decades since guidelines for how much weight a woman should gain during pregnancy were issued by the Institute of Medicine. In that time, more research has been conducted on the effects of weight gain in pregnancy on the health of both mother and baby. There have also been dramatic changes in the population of women having babies. Given these changes, the IOM’s 2009 report Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Reexamining the Guidelines examines weight gain during pregnancy from the perspective that factors that affect pregnancy begin before conception and continue through the first year after delivery.
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  A Review of the HHS Family Planning Program: Mission, Management, and Measurement of Results Released: May 26, 2009

  Ample research shows that family planning contributes to the well-being of individuals, families, and broader society as well. Even so, many low-income individuals find it difficult to pay for these much-needed services, highlighting the critical role played by the Title X Family Planning Program, the nation’s only federal program exclusively devoted to providing family planning services. In its 2009 report A Review of the HHS Family Planning Program: Mission, Management, and Measurement of Results, the authoring committee acknowledges the program’s success in providing critical services to those who have the most difficulty obtaining them. However, the report outlines several aspects of the Title X program’s structure that need to be improved if the program is going to truly meet the needs of individuals and families and improve their overall reproductive health and well-being.
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  Influence of Pregnancy Weight on Maternal and Child Health: A Workshop Report Released: March 14, 2007

  Given the unprecedented environment in the United States in which two-thirds of the adult population meets the criteria for being overweight or obese, the implications for women in the reproductive age period are unique in the history of the country. In May 2006, at the request of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine convened a workshop to examine emerging research findings related to the complex relationship of the biological, behavioral, psychological, and social interactions that affect maternal and pregnancy weight on maternal and child health outcomes.
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  Medical Risks of Oocyte Donation for Stem Cell Research: Workshop Summary Released: January 29, 2007

  The oocyte donation process that allows vital stem cell research is not without its risks to the donors, and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine contracted with the National Academies (NAS) to assemble a workshop that would bring together experts from various areas to address the questions of what is known about these risks, what needs to be known, and what can be done to minimize them. In response, the NAS formed the Committee on Assessing the Medical Risks of Oocyte Donation for Stem Cell Research that held a workshop in San Francisco on September 28, 2006, devoted to those issues.
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  Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention Released: July 13, 2006

  In 2005, 12.5 percent of births in the United States were preterm, at less than 37 weeks gestation. This high rate of premature births in the United States constitutes a public health concern that costs society at least $26 billion a year. Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention notes troubling disparities in preterm birth rates among different racial and ethnic groups.
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  The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of Children and Families Released: March 6, 2006

  Experts estimate that nearly 60 percent of all U.S. pregnancies--and 81 percent of pregnancies among adolescents--are unintended. Yet the topic of preventing these unintended pregnancies has long been treated gingerly because of personal sensitivities and public controversies, especially the debate over abortion. In this climate The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of Children and Families offers a timely exploration of family planning issues from a distinguished panel of experts.
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  Improving Breast Imaging Quality Standards Released: May 23, 2005

  This study, titled Improving Breast Imaging Quality Standards, examines the current practice of mammography and breast cancer detection, with a focus on the FDA's Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) oversight, and identifies areas in need of improvement.
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  Saving Women's Lives: Strategies for Improving Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis--A Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Institute of Medicine Symposium Released: March 9, 2005

  In this report The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) present a one-day symposium that was held at the IOM to further disseminate the conclusions and recommendations of the joint IOM and National Research Council report Saving Women's Lives: Strategies for Improving Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis.
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  Saving Women's Lives: Strategies for Improving Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Released: June 10, 2004

  This report from the Institute of Medicine says that one of the biggest problems facing women today is that their access to breast cancer screening is endangered due to a shortage of breast imaging specialists. While new technologies hold promise for increasing the accuracy of breast cancer detection, improving access to mammography and broadening the pool of medical personnel who can interpret mammograms offer the greatest potential for immediately reducing the number of lives lost to breast cancer in the United States.