Apr 5, 2019
Vidcast: https://youtu.be/KDuBlo4yEKs
If you’re pregnant and work two night shifts in any given week, you significantly increase your chances of suffering a miscarriage. Danish occupational medicine specialists reviewed the data from nearly 23,000 pregnant women a for a study recently published online.
The data revealed that, after the 8th week of pregnancy, women who worked two or more night shifts in any given week had a 32% higher risk of miscarriage by the following week. The risk of miscarriage escalated as the number of night shifts and the number of consecutive night shifts increased.
Again, this study only unearths an association, and the cause of this phenomenon is unproven. The investigators do add that night work disrupts the body’s circadian rhythms and diminishes melatonin release. Melatonin is known to be a factor in normal placental function.
If you are on the night shift and considering becoming pregnant, ask your managers if you can join the day crew. This is crucial if you have a history of miscarriages or high-risk pregnancies.
Luise Moelenberg Begtrup, Ina Olmer Specht, Paula Edeusa Cristina Hammer, Esben Meulengracht Flachs, Anne Helene Garde, Johnni Hansen, Åse Marie Hansen, Henrik Albert Kolstad, Ann Dyreborg Larsen, Jens Peter Bonde. Night work and miscarriage: a Danish nationwide register-based cohort study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2019 DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2018-105592
#Nightshift #miscarriage #highriskpregnancy #pregnancy #obstetrics #circadianrhythm #melatonin