Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Pregnancy on the farm comes with unique risks

Pregnancy can be challenging for anyone, but being pregnant on the farm comes with an unusual combination of risks, Christina Stella reports for Harvest Public Media, an NPR affiliate.

Pregnant women in rural areas are overall at risk, since rural maternal care has dwindled for years, Stella reports: "Since 2010, 134 rural hospitals in the U.S. have shut down their obstetrics units, and 18 have closed entirely. That left less than half of rural hospitals providing reproductive care. The closures are coming at a time when at least one woman now works at more than half of America’s farms — a 27% increase, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s most recent census (which didn’t ask whether people were in operations vs. in the field)."

In addition to the general risk of rural pregnancy, pregnant farmers, farmworkers, and livestock veterinarians face additional concerns, such as the risk of working with agricultural chemicals that could harm a fetus. Some studies have linked commonly used chemicals such as glyphosate (Roundup) to lowered fertility among women, birth defects, and miscarriage, Stella reports.

"Working with livestock while pregnant can also be a concern," Stella reports. "Some hormones for livestock can trigger abortions, so getting accidentally stuck with a needle can be disastrous. Plus, animals carry bacteria and zoonotic illnesses that can be unsafe for human mothers and their fetuses."

Since women are a minority in agriculture, many doctors are unaware or unsure about possible dangers to pregnant farmers, and many not know how to warn them about safe practices or deal with questions, Stella reports. Health-care providers must be taught about common issues that could affect pregnant women on farms, whether in college or through continuing education, community-health nurse Linda Emmanuel told Stella. Emmanuel works with Agrisafe, a nonprofit that offers safety and health training services to people working in agriculture.

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