Exposure to air pollutants in late pregnancy increases the likelihood of intensive care for new-borns by up to 35%.
A recent study released by the University at Buffalo in the United States identified a clear correlation between a mother’s exposure to air pollution in late pregnancy and the risk of her newborn being admitted in its first month to a hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
The full research study can be accessed here.
The university team used 2018 data from across the USA to correlate NICU admissions with satellite and modelled air pollution levels for the month before birth.
Regardless of season, it was found that higher ambient levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) increased the likelihood of NICU admission by 11-22% and 30–35% respectively.
The study’s author, Yohane V.A. Phiri, from the University’s Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health stated: “Our findings highlight the critical impact of air pollution during the final weeks of pregnancy, a time of heightened fetal vulnerability, and emphasize the significance of addressing air pollution exposure, even at lower levels.”
This follows on from a raft of other recent research summarized in ‘Seminars in Perinatology’ in Science Direct’s December 2023 issue. This concluded by referencing the physiological changes that occur during pregnancy - including a 20% increase in oxygen absorption, a 40-50% increase in minute ventilation, and a 40% increase in cardiac output – that result in a marked increase in the amount of pollutants inhaled and circulated. These are then associated with “various adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes including HDP, postpartum depression, infant mortality, low birth weight, preterm birth, and effects on lung development and respiratory health.”