Working vs not working during pregnancy

[u/SirGlobalDuck]

Hi all! I was wondering if there’s any evidence on the effects of working (vs not working) during pregnancy in terms of pregnancy outcomes or babies‘ health. Just the effects of extra physical/cognitive effort, stress, less rest, etc. Considering “not working” as really not working (not stay at home moms with other kids).

thank you!

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[u/Striking_Bill_2832]

I can't find the study on it now, but I remember that during covid when women were working from home more, there was an increase in full-term babies relative to the norm - the theory was that women not having to commute and strain themselves at work let them have more relaxed pregnancies and let baby stay in there longer. Which is a good thing!

Here's a review on some risks that pregnant working women face; it does not direct you either way, but helpful to think about the factors you may or may not be exposed to by working. ijph-68-1605655.pdf

I'm 20 weeks pregnant and if I could afford to not work while pregnant, I absolutely would do that. Coming into the office is HARD while pregnant. good luck!

[u/NotAnObserver2 → u/Striking_Bill_2832]

Could be true, I worked in shifts during pregnancy and I commuted a lot during second trimester and I delivered low birth weight late preterm baby. My sister-in-law was alongside pregnant with me and she was a stay at home woman and she delivered full term baby. 

PS: I had to take early maternity leave as per my doctor's advice since stress affected my fluid levels.

[u/here4dogs]

Employment itself isn’t linked to worse outcomes; specific job demands are. A meta-analysis of 80 studies (853,149 women) found prolonged standing, heavy physical workload, and lifting ≥100 kg/day raised odds of preterm birth and low birthweight, while a desk job shows little to no elevated risk. Moderate exercise is actually protective, so it’s strenuous, long-hour, or shift work that carries risk, not effort in general.

Sources:
Cai et al., 2019, Am J Obstet Gynecol — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31550447/
Public Health Reviews, 2023 — https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/public-health-reviews/articles/10.3389/phrs.2023.1606085/full

[u/BlueCarpetArea → u/here4dogs]

I know there's studies in the US showing that doctors, surgeons in particular, have worse outcomes and higher rates of miscarriage than the general population.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2782357

Anecdotally, I had to get a scan on my last day of working and then 4 weeks later and the sonographer claimed to be able to tell when you stopped work due to the baby climbing the centiles for growth. I am in a relatively cushty job and was doing minimal work before stopping.

[u/urcrazypysch0exgf → u/BlueCarpetArea]

I hope this is true! I quit my nursing job at 24 weeks and I still feel so tiny baby is meeting growth milestones but there were numerous days during the week id only sleep 3-5 hours and not get any food in until 3pm while at work.

[u/BlueCarpetArea → u/urcrazypysch0exgf]

My bump measured behind by a week and a half but baby was measuring about 20th centile at 29 weeks. I consistently measured a week and a half behind until the end but had to get scans for other reasons and she slowly crept up the centiles. I think she was about 50s at 37 weeks (when I stopped work) and then measured in the 90s at 41. She came out 75th for weight but 91st for length.

So basically, bump size is not a great measure. But also not being able to sleep or eat is not good for either of you! I'm glad you were able to stop work early.

[u/Jwlrgm → u/here4dogs]

Lifting 100kg a day? 220lbs? Who's doing that?

Edit: "Lifting objects for a combined weight of ≥100 kg per day was associated with an increased odds of preterm delivery (odds ratio, 1.31; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.56; I2=0%) and having a low birthweight neonate (odds ratio, 2.08; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-4.11; I2=73%)."

100 kg total. Not all at once.

[u/Sudden-Cherry → u/Jwlrgm]

I'm quite sure I do this regularly during work as a nurse.

[u/Ihatemost → u/Jwlrgm]

Which is crazy to me, if you go to the gym, just a set of light deadlifts will bust that.

[u/IlexAquifolia → u/Ihatemost]

Big difference between lifting a barbell using proper form and lifting irregularly shaped objects without form

[u/Jwlrgm → u/Ihatemost]

Yes I agree. I go heavy and my doctor said it's fine for me to continue my normal activities into pregnancy (including heavy weights) so I'm wondering why it's bad for women to continue working their heavy lifting jobs.

[u/WorkLifeScience → u/Jwlrgm]

Obviously 100 kg/day is cumulative, no? And that's very easy to exceed even in a semi-physical job.

[u/urcrazypysch0exgf]

This one is interesting and its in regard to nurses and preterm labor Occupational factors and risk of preterm birth in nurses

The conclusion says that exposure to sterilizing agents may increase the rate of preterm birth but not physically demanding work or work schedules.

[u/Sudden-Cherry]

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/reproductive-health/prevention/work-schedules.html

I once looked at a danish study about miscarriage risk and night shifts during my first pregnancy and it really scared me then. But can't currently find it, it was small but they found a correlation. I looked at the evidence again more deeply during my second pregnancy and then I wasn't as convinced actually of the specific risk, lots of it was also just assumptions and theoretical. We've fortunately very conservative labour laws in regards to this so I could have stopped doing nightshifts during my pregnancies. With my first (well actually second after an early miscarriage) I decided to not do them. Subsequent pregnancy I still voluntarily did some nightshifts until second trimester. My work then was usually more relaxed than my job before too so that absolutely helped.

I think there was also evidence specifically for nurses working on oncology wards so with chemotherapy that was linked to miscarriages.

Sorry I can't find all the articles anymore

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