I would hope that the results of the following study won't be a reason to discriminate against women in stressful or physically demanding jobs. Researchers at the University College Dublin and a French health research organization found that a baby is five times more likely to be born premature if the mother worked at a job under two or more of the following conditions:
Long hours
Shifts
Temporary jobs
Physically demanding positions
Just one of those factors made the baby four times more likely to be small or born early.
Just because a mom-to-be works long hours or in shifts wasn't enough to show a statistically significant increased risk, but combined with any of the other factors, it was.
So what does this mean for working moms? Should we go back to the olden days when you would announce you're pregnant and immediately resign? Um, no. But how about, for example, giving this cop desk duty until she returns from her maternity leave? And maybe doing the math that it would cost less in the long run to make these accommodations, considering the extra expense of caring for an increased number of premature and low-weight babies.
From the Telegraph:
Dr Isabelle Niedhammer, one of the co-authors of the study, said:
"This study underlines that more attention should be given to women's
working conditions during pregnancy, and effort should be intensified
towards reducing exposure to physical work demands, shift work, and
long working hours for pregnant women.
"Special attention should also be given to pregnant women working on temporary contracts," she added.
Do you think work stress or a physically demanding job affected the size and health of your baby?
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Photo: Telegraph.co.uk
