health
Bending forwards a lot at work in early pregnancy may increase miscarriage risk, study suggests
More walking and standing in the workplace also associated with higher risk, according to Danish research
TL;DR
- Bending forwards and walking frequently at work in early pregnancy may increase miscarriage risk.
- Each additional hour of forward bending at a 30-degree angle was associated with a 36% higher risk of miscarriage.
- Each extra hour of walking was associated with an 18% higher risk, and standing with a 3% higher risk.
- The study analyzed data from over 800,000 pregnancies in Denmark between 2004 and 2018.
- Researchers used an improved job exposure model combining activity tracker data and expert evaluations.
- The findings suggest occupational exposures might affect placental perfusion or hormonal regulation.
- Experts emphasize this is an observational study, so causation cannot be definitively proven.
- Limitations include a lack of individual data on smoking and inability to adjust for lifting or other potential occupational exposures.