Stand and Deliver - research indicates link between physically demanding jobs and premature labor - Brief Article

Vegetarian Times, July, 2000 by Darv Johnson

Hard labor in the workplace could lead to early labor at the hospital for American women, according to an article published in April's Obstetrics & Gynecology. The "meta-analysis" examined 29 studies involving more than 160,000 American working women. Researchers found that women whose jobs demanded heavy lifting and prolonged standing were at higher risk of giving birth prematurely.

Previous research has shown that the stress caused by physical labor may be responsible for releasing the hormones that stimulate uterine contractions. The authors of this recent article estimate that one preterm birth can be prevented for every 12 women who reduce their overall job fatigue, and another one prevented for every 27 women who take a break from standing at work.

That's easier said than done for America's working women, according to lead author Ellen Mozurkewich, M.D., of the University of Michigan Medical School. Citing insufficient family-leave policies in the United States, she says, "There hasn't yet been a real effort to control working conditions for pregnant women in this country."

Generous family-leave policies in European countries--typically beginning four to six weeks before childbirth and offering benefits for an entire year--have been linked to a lower incidence of preterm births. More than 120 nations mandate paid leave for their working mothers-to-be; the United States is one of the few industrialized nations that does not.

The Family Leave and Medical Act, enacted here with much fanfare in 1993, requires that employers grant up to 12 weeks of leave to workers facing a birth or major illness in the family. The catch--and it's a huge one--is that the leave can be unpaid. As a result, the law offers little relief to those women who can least afford the lost income. According to Sandhya Subramanian, of the Washington, D.C.-based National Partnership for Women and Families, about 10 percent of the estimated 26 million people who have taken advantage of the law had to seek public assistance while on leave. And in households with an income of less than $20,000, that number jumped to 20 percent.

Thus, a vicious cycle is born: Poor women must work later into their pregnancies to make ends meet. And since work at the low end of the pay scale is often more physically demanding, these women often end up placing their unborn babies at higher risk.

Last June, the National Partnership launched a campaign urging state legislatures to pick up where federal law leaves off. A dozen states are considering potential solutions, including extending unemployment or disability insurance to pregnant women. In the meantime, the social safety net has too many holes for working women. Says Subramanian, "Women are being forced to make an impossible choice between income and family."