Study Links 9/11 Exposure to Low Birthweight, Preterm Delivery
A study published in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that exposure to 9/11 in women was associated with negative effects on their babies’ health, even if they were not pregnant at the time of the attacks. The rate of preterm delivery and low birthweight was twice as high in women who responded to 9/11, participated in the rescue and recovery efforts or lived below Canal Street in the World Trade Center’s neighborhood. This risk was present over the next few years.
“Associations between disaster exposure and adverse birth outcomes have been demonstrated repeatedly in the past,” said lead author Carey Maslow, according to Reuters. “What is surprising is that these associations persisted among infants conceived up to three years after 9/11.” Maslow is the deputy director of research for the World Trade Center Health Registry.
The study used the WTC Health Registry to gather exposure data on enrolled women. This data was matched to birth certificates for infants born in New York City between September 11, 2001 and the end of 2010. Among enrolled women, 3,360 babies were born in the study period. Births from women who were pregnant on 9/11 accounted for less than 10 percent of the total. Nearly 7 percent of infants were preterm, meaning they were born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Infants of low birthweight, meaning they weighed less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces, accounted for 6 percent.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the average newborn weighs about 8 pounds. An estimated 8 percent of all babies are low birthweight.
The study analyzed the mothers’ level of exposure to 9/11 and its aftermath. Researchers considered whether they suffered injuries, witnessed trauma, were evacuated or worked “on the pile”. Compared to women with less exposure, women with at least two out of four exposures were 2.3 times more likely to give birth to a low-birthweight baby and 2.1 times more likely to have a preterm delivery. In mothers who participated in recovery work, there was a 1.9-fold increased risk of giving preterm birth in the first few years. The differences were less distinct at the end of the 10-year study period.
Researchers said they were surprised by the fact that babies of mothers with exposure were not more likely to be small for their gestational age.
Maslow told Reuters that it is difficult to assess the independent effects of psychological trauma and physical harm because these things tend to occur simultaneously in a disaster setting.
Dr. Iris Udasin, medical director of the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute Clinical Center at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, said “Whether the important exposure is posttraumatic stress or components of the toxic dust themselves, the eggs were exposed to it,”
“The good news is, even though these numbers are higher than we would like them to be, they’re not overwhelmingly large,” said Dr. Udasin, who was not involved in the study.
Maslow noted that disasters have been linked to negative reproductive effects. She said she would not tell women to delay their pregnancy following a disaster but advised, “Women who have been exposed to a disaster, including those involved in disaster response, should inform the prenatal care provider of the nature and extent of their exposure,”
from Parker Waichman http://www.yourlawyer.com/blog/study-links-911-exposure-to-low-birthweight-preterm-delivery/
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