RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Influence Of Work On The Outcome Of Low-Risk Pregnancies
JF The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Practice
JO J Am Board Fam Med
FD American Board of Family Medicine
SP 167
OP 174
DO 10.3122/jabfm.1.3.167
VO 1
IS 3
A1 Mindy Ann Smith
A1 Kelley A. Brix
A1 Caryl J. Heaton
YR 1988
UL http://www.jabfm.org/content/1/3/167.abstract
AB In this study, the relation of white-collar work on the outcomes of low-risk pregnancies was investigated. The medical records of 300 primiparous women whose pregnancy outcomes were known were selected sequentially from prenatal care log books over a 6-month period in three private, group obstetric practices in a university community. The majority of these women worked outside the home and included 220 white-collar workers (73 percent) and 28 blue-collar workers (9 percent). Thirty-four women (11 percent) were homemakers. Within this sample, 197 women (66 percent) met the selection criteria for low-risk pregnancies based on known sociodemographic, medical, and health risk factors. Although the sample numbers were small, comparison of low-risk white-collar workers (n = 141) with low-risk homemakers (n = 24) showed significant differences for rates of Cesarean section for failure to progress (16 percent versus 0 percent, P < 0.05) and a summary index of poor delivery and/or infant outcome (21 percent versus 4 percent, P < 0.05). No other adverse outcomes were significantly associated with occupation. This study suggests that increased pregnancy risks may be associated with white-collar work in otherwise low-risk women.