Environmental Risks to Pregnant Women That Your Doctor Doesn't Tell You About

Avoid unpasteurized dairy.

Limit raw fish consumption.

No alcohol.

These types of recommendations for pregnant women are well known. In addition, supplementation of essential nutrition is important. But now there is more you can do to ensure a healthy pregnancy. A new report from Environmental Health Sciences reveals that environmental factors can be very important to the health of the fetus and deserve attention. Substances in the food we eat, flame retardants in furniture or even exposure to gas fumes when at the pump can all have negative effects.

"Virtually all pregnant women have chemicals in their bodies that might harm fetal development.

Monitoring of pregnant women found about 100 different chemical, with 43 of them in all women tested. Lead, mercury, toluene, perchlorate, bisphenol A, flame retardants, perfluorinated compounds, organochlorine pesticides and phthalates are among the chemicals, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;s nationwide testing program. 

Studies suggest that for many of these compounds, low-level exposures in the womb seem to disrupt development of the brain or reproductive systems. Others may raise the risk of birth defects, or lead to cancer, immune problems, asthma, fertility problems or other disorders later in life"

What troubling is that many health care providers are not talking to patients about these risks.

"A new nationwide survey of 2,600 obstetricians and gynecologists found that most do not warn their pregnant patients about chemicals in food, consumer products or the environment that could endanger their fetuses. More than half said they don't warn about mercury, and hardly any of them give advice about lead, pesticides, air pollution or chemicals in plastics of cosmetics. 

Many doctors sat their priority is to protect pregnant women from more immediate dangers, and that warning them about environmental risks may create undue anxiety. Some say they don't feel confident in their ability to discuss the topics.

'We're worrying about pre-term labor, obesity and hypertension,' said Dr. Jeanne A Conry, an ob/gyn at Kaiser Permanente in Roseville, Calif., and incoming president of a national medical society. 'Obesity trumps almost everything. We put our time and energy there, and don't dwell on some of the other things we should be aware of."

Read the entire article here.

How does this information sit with you? Do you tell your pregnant patients about potential environmental dangers? Do you think that patients can handle the information and make good use of it? What resources to you use to stay up to date on environmental research?

Let us know in the comments.

Labels: BPA, chemicals, environmental, fetal, flame retardants, fumes, gynecology, health, infant, obstetricians, pregnancy, pregnant