Effects of earthquake on perinatal outcomes: A Chilean register-based study

Abstract

BackgroundNatural disasters increase the level population stress, including pregnant women, who can experience prenatal maternal stress, affecting the fetus and triggering perinatal complications, such as low birth weight, smaller head circumference, etc. However, little is known about effects of earthquake on perinatal outcomes.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of earthquake occurred on February 27, 2010 and perinatal outcomes of Chilean pregnant women, and to examine these effects by timing of exposure during pregnancy and newborn gender.MethodsA register-based study was performed using data collected from women who had a vaginal delivery in a large private health center in Santiago, Chile, during 2009 and 2010. The study population was categorized according to exposure to earthquake and timing during gestation. Primary perinatal outcomes were gestational age at birth, birth weight, length and head circumference. Analyses adjusted for gender, gestational age at exposure, parity, maternal age and income.ResultsA total of 1,966 eligible vaginal deliveries occurred during 2009 and 2,110 in 2010. Birth weight was not affected by the trimester of exposure; however, length, head circumference and gestational age at birth were significantly different according to trimester of exposure and gender of newborn. In multivariable analysis, newborns were shorter by 2 mm, 5 mm and 4.5 mm, if they were exposed during their first, second and third trimester, respectively. Furthermore, newborns had a smaller head circumference by 1.2 mm and 1.5 mm if they were exposed during first and second trimester of gestation.ConclusionIn this cohort, exposure to the February 2010 earthquake resulted in earlier delivery and reduced length and head circumference in the offspring. This association varied according to trimester of exposure and fetal gender. Health workers should include exposed to high levels of stress associated with natural disasters when assessing pregnancy risk factors.

Ocular Findings and Visual Function in Children Examined during the Zika Health Brigade in the US Virgin Islands, March 2018

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Impact on pregnancy outcomes of exposure to military stress during the first or second trimester as compared with the third trimester

“…The present findings imply that the type of stress and the stage when a pregnant woman is exposed to stress might affect her and her fetus differently. Palmeiro‐Silva et al . found that male newborns who were exposed to stress during the second trimer had a shorter gestation, whereas female newborns showed no such association, suggesting that the risk of a shorter pregnancy varies by fetal gender.…”

Maternal exposure to Wenchuan earthquake and prolonged risk of offspring birth outcomes: a natural experiment study

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