Environmental Impacts During Pregnancy

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Avoid Smoking or Tobacco Use
Restrict the Exposure to Heavy Metals
Minimize the Exposure to Pesticides and Organic Solvents
Radiation
Stress
Physical Distress
Air Pollution
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Environmental exposures are instrumental in the onset of disorders. According to Padula et al. (2019), the developing fetus is particularly vulnerable to environmental pollutants. Several epidemiological studies reveal an interrelation between environmental exposures, for instance, tobacco smoke, air pollution, and water contaminants with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The negative pregnancy outcomes triggered by these factors include stillbirth, intrauterine growth limitations, preterm delivery, increased probability of miscarriages, and congenital anomalies. Besides, Padula et al. (2020) associate these environmental aspects with several impacts on various reproductive functions, such as infertility and menstrual disorders. Therefore, to maintain a healthy pregnancy, one should avoid subjecting oneself to surroundings deemed harmful to the mother and fetus’s well-being. This writing presents a comprehensive description of the approaches aimed to avert or minimize the negative environmental impacts during pregnancy.

Avoid Smoking or Tobacco Use

The negative impacts of smoking are well developed; however, tobacco use among females has remained at significantly high levels over the past twenty-five years. Irrespective of the cautions regarding its adverse consequences, around 20-25% of adult women, particularly young female adults and those from low socioeconomic status, in the U.S smoke (Golan et al., 2018). Substantial increases in heart-related disorders, cancer, and other illnesses directly ascribed to smoking have been identified among women. During pregnancy, tobacco use is linked with several poor birth outcomes; this includes spontaneous abortion, preterm delivery, placental issues, intrauterine growth reduction, and low birth weight.

Maternal smoking has been correlated with a two-fold likelihood of birthing infants with LBW (low birth weight). Zhang et al. (2018) further identify tobacco smoke as a risk factor for conditions such as SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), respiratory conditions, for instance, asthma, among infants, and ear infections. Besides its impact on placental function, Padula et al. (2019) further highlight the effects of nicotine on the placenta. According to Padula et al. (2019), this tobacco component typically crosses the placenta, acting as neuroteratogen. It consequently impedes fetal growth by attacking the nervous system. Nicotine initiates this process by targeting the fetal receptors, particularly acetylcholine, situated in the brain to alter the sequence of cell differentiation and proliferation. This, in turn, triggers neuronal damage and cell loss and the likelihood of auditory and cognitive processing deficits and socio-behavioral effects.

Restrict the Exposure to Heavy Metals

Metals such as manganese, nickel, and mercury have been linked with adverse reproductive outcomes. For instance, mercury has been correlated with reduced fertility and spontaneous abortion. Padula et al. (2020) link the exposure to low lead levels with an elevated probability for miscarriage. Lead typically crosses the placenta, and according to Padula et al. (2020), it triggers teratogenic effects and influences the hormonal surrounding deemed essential in sustaining the pregnancy. Furthermore, this metal has been linked with the incidence of stillbirths among females. Therefore, if you are at risk of exposure or have been subjected to lead and its associates, your must have your blood lead levels monitored.

Minimize the Exposure to Pesticides and Organic Solvents

Landscape artists and pregnant females working in agricultural fields are usually at risk of exposure to pesticides. Epidemiologic studies associate this particular susceptibility with the increased probability of spontaneous miscarriages, preterm delivery, especially among greenhouse workers and low birth weight (Golan et al., 2018). Other prospective impacts include decreased fecundity among women within the reproductive age grouping and infertility. Therefore, if you have been exposed to this component, I recommend the regular monitoring of urinary levels throughout the gestation period. On the other hand, organic solvents have been linked with a thirteen-fold risk of major fetal malformations and miscarriages.

Radiation

Subjecting oneself to ionizing radiations during early gestation and the peri-conceptional period has been linked to the likelihood of childhood cancer and congenital disabilities. Currently, state statutes recommend the need for protecting pregnant females from doses greater than 1mSv all through pregnancy (Zheng et al. 2016). Exposure to non-ionizing radiations, especially electromagnetic waves, should also be restricted. Avoid the frequent use of mobile phones, electric blankets, and heated beds.

Stress

Preeclampsia, preterm delivery, decreased birth weight, and congenital disabilities are typically associated with maternal distress. A recent populace-based case-control survey uncovered a positive correlation between great vessels’ transposition, cleft palate and cleft lip and maternal distress two months prior to and following conception (Padula et al., 2019). Another case-control research linked preterm deliveries with chronic work exposure and job stress. The study findings revealed that this relationship was significantly high among African-American women (Padula et al., 2019). Elevated job strain rates during the initial twenty weeks of gestation have been interlinked to increased preeclampsia incidence.

Research ascribes the latter phenomenon to high catecholamines release, linked to the elevated rates of work-related stress. Furthermore, a similar survey revealed that the likelihood of conceiving an SGA (small for gestational age) infant heightened with shift-work or irregular work schedules only or when integrated with several occupational conditions (Padula et al., 2019). These circumstances include noise, lifting loads, night hour shifts, and increased psychological demand with minimal social support. However, the eradication of these situations before twenty-four weeks of pregnancy triggered a significant reduction of risks close to their counterparts. Therefore, you must avert work-related distress and working environments that do not foster healthy pregnancy prior to 24 weeks of conception.

Physical Distress

Physical distress such as long working hours, lifting heavy loads, bending, and long-standing hours have also been linked to negative pregnancy outcomes. Preterm delivery, decreased birth weight, and SGA are among the adverse gestational outcomes associated with this environmental aspect. Golan et al. (2018) link SGA with working over fifty hours weekly and with tasks that involve standing for over seven hours a day. When integrated with other aspects such as poor antenatal care and stress, arduous physical work may trigger the increased risk for negative outcomes during pregnancy. I recommend that you minimize your working hours to less than fifty weekly and avoid duties that require standing for extended periods.

Air Pollution

Air pollution is linked to intrauterine development limitations, low birth weight, and congenital birth deformations. A Poland survey involving pregnant females exposed to PM 25–fine particulate matter aimed to evaluate its impact on birth outcomes. The research revealed an association between this exposure and decreased head circumference and low birth weight among offspring born to these women (Padula et al., 2020). Studies further indicate a correlation between air pollution and congenital heart-related congenital disabilities (Padula et al., 2020). A meta-analysis aimed to assess the interrelation between pregnancy upshots and air pollution uncovered a causal connection between low birth weight and this environmental factor (Padula et al., 2020). From the above analysis, it is evident that air pollution plays a crucial role in increasing the probability of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Therefore, you must avoid regions where air pollution has reached the levels considered unhealthy.

Conclusion

Environmental aspects play an instrumental part in maternal health. Factors such as stress, radiation, air pollution, pesticides, organic solvents, metals, and smoking contribute to placental issues. They trigger low birth weight, long-term impacts on behavioral and neuronal developments in adulthood, and intrauterine growth limitations. Therefore, it is essential to employ strategies that aim to minimize these exposures while promoting the mother and fetus’s overall health.

References

Golan, R., Kloog, I., Almog, R., Gesser-Edelsburg, A., Negev, M., Jolles, M., Shalev, V., Eisenberg, V. H., Koren, G., Ahmad, W. A., & Levine, H., (2018). Environmental exposures and fetal growth: The Haifa pregnancy cohort study.BMC Public Health, 18, 132. Web.

Padula, M. A., Monk, C., Brennan, P. A., Borders, A., Barrett, E. S., McEvoy, C. T., Foss, S., Desai, P., Alshawabkeh, A., Wurth, R., Salafia, C., Fichorova, R., Varshavsky, J., Kress, A., Woodruff, T. J., & Morello-Frosch, R. (2019). A review of maternal prenatal exposures to environmental chemicals and psychosocial stressors—implications for research on perinatal outcomes in the ECHO program.Journal of Perinatology, 40, 10–24. Web.

Padula, A. M., Rivera-Núñez, Z., & Barrett, E. S. (2020). Combined impacts of prenatal environmental exposures and psychosocial stress on offspring health: Air pollution and metals.Current Environmental Health Reports, 7, 89–100. Web.

Zheng, T., Zhang, J., Sommer, K., Bassig, B., Zhang, X., Braun, J., Xu, S., Boyle, P., Zhang, B., Shi, K., Buka, S., Liu, s., Li., Y., Qian, Z., Dai, M., Romano, M., Zou, A., & Kelsey, K. (2016). Effects of environmental exposures on fetal and childhood growth trajectories.Annals of Global Health, 82(1), 41–99. Web.

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