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Occupational physical activities, working hours and outcome of pregnancy: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey

Occupational physical activities, working hours and outcome of pregnancy: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey
Occupational physical activities, working hours and outcome of pregnancy: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey
Objectives: To investigate risks of physical activity at work by pregnancy trimester, including the effects on head and abdominal circumference.
Method: At 34 weeks of gestation we interviewed 1327 mothers from the prospective Southampton Women’s Survey (SWS); we asked about their activities (working hours, standing/walking, kneeling/squatting, trunk bending, lifting and night shifts) in jobs held at each of 11, 19 and 34 weeks of gestation, and subsequently ascertained four birth outcomes (preterm delivery, small for gestational age (SGA) and reduced head or abdominal circumference) blinded to employment history.
Results: Risk of preterm delivery was elevated nearly threefold in women whose work at 34 weeks entailed trunk bending for >1 h/day. Small head circumference was more common in babies born to women who worked for >40 h/week. However, no statistically significant associations were found with SGA or small abdominal circumference, and preterm delivery showed little association with long working hours, lifting, standing or shift work.
Conclusions: There is a need for more research on trunk bending late in pregnancy, and on the relationship of work to reduced head circumference. Our findings on several other occupational exposures common among pregnant workers are reassuring.
1351-0711
685-690
Bonzini, M.
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Coggon, D.
2b43ce0a-cc61-4d86-b15d-794208ffa5d3
Godfrey, K.
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Inskip, H.
5fb4470a-9379-49b2-a533-9da8e61058b7
Crozier, S.
1f39648f-d527-497f-bb40-319f487a0782
Palmer, K.T.
0cfe63f0-1d33-40ff-ae8c-6c33601df850
Bonzini, M.
0cd0ca2c-a67c-4ec4-95ee-7c93060d47a1
Coggon, D.
2b43ce0a-cc61-4d86-b15d-794208ffa5d3
Godfrey, K.
0931701e-fe2c-44b5-8f0d-ec5c7477a6fd
Inskip, H.
5fb4470a-9379-49b2-a533-9da8e61058b7
Crozier, S.
1f39648f-d527-497f-bb40-319f487a0782
Palmer, K.T.
0cfe63f0-1d33-40ff-ae8c-6c33601df850

Bonzini, M., Coggon, D., Godfrey, K., Inskip, H., Crozier, S. and Palmer, K.T. (2009) Occupational physical activities, working hours and outcome of pregnancy: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey. Occupational & Environmental Medicine, 66 (10), 685-690. (doi:10.1136/oem.2008.043935).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate risks of physical activity at work by pregnancy trimester, including the effects on head and abdominal circumference.
Method: At 34 weeks of gestation we interviewed 1327 mothers from the prospective Southampton Women’s Survey (SWS); we asked about their activities (working hours, standing/walking, kneeling/squatting, trunk bending, lifting and night shifts) in jobs held at each of 11, 19 and 34 weeks of gestation, and subsequently ascertained four birth outcomes (preterm delivery, small for gestational age (SGA) and reduced head or abdominal circumference) blinded to employment history.
Results: Risk of preterm delivery was elevated nearly threefold in women whose work at 34 weeks entailed trunk bending for >1 h/day. Small head circumference was more common in babies born to women who worked for >40 h/week. However, no statistically significant associations were found with SGA or small abdominal circumference, and preterm delivery showed little association with long working hours, lifting, standing or shift work.
Conclusions: There is a need for more research on trunk bending late in pregnancy, and on the relationship of work to reduced head circumference. Our findings on several other occupational exposures common among pregnant workers are reassuring.

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Published date: October 2009

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 69758
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/69758
ISSN: 1351-0711
PURE UUID: 7b8d5501-d16a-47a1-a230-3c85564dc21d
ORCID for D. Coggon: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1930-3987
ORCID for K. Godfrey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4643-0618
ORCID for H. Inskip: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8897-1749

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Date deposited: 02 Dec 2009
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:40

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Contributors

Author: M. Bonzini
Author: D. Coggon ORCID iD
Author: K. Godfrey ORCID iD
Author: H. Inskip ORCID iD
Author: S. Crozier
Author: K.T. Palmer

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