Research Plus

Lifting risks during pregnancy

A nationwide population-based cohort study in Denmark found an exposure–response relationship between occupational lifting and miscarriage. (The study was not included in the systematic review reported above.) It included 71,500 pregnancies of women who had been working at least 15 hours a week at the time of, or within three months before, an interview carried out at gestational weeks 12–16. The risk of early miscarriage increased significantly with increased total daily load lifted (p < 0.0001) – with women who lifted cumulatively more than 1,000 kg a day at double the risk of early miscarriage compared with those who did not lift at work (hazard ratio 2.02; CI 1.23–3.33). The risk of late miscarriage was higher in women lifting more than 200 kg a day (HR 1.42; CI 1.15–1.76). One quarter of women lifting at work were involved in handling people.

 

Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment and Health 2012; online first: doi: 10.5271/sjweh.3335. http://www.sjweh.fi/show_abstract.php?abstract_id=3335

Tags evidence based practice pregnancy, menopause and reproductive health

Occupational Health at Work February/March 2013 (vol. 09/5) pp40