Maternal Work and Spontaneous Preterm Birth: A Multicenter Observational Study in Brazil

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T01:27:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-12-01 Spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) is a major pregnancy complication involving biological, social, behavioural and environmental mechanisms. Workload, shift and intensity may play a role in the occurrence of sPTB. This analysis is aimed addressing the effect of occupational activities on the risk for sPTB and the related outcomes. We conducted a secondary analysis of the EMIP study, a Brazilian multicentre cross-sectional study. For this analysis, we included 1,280 singleton sPTB and 1,136 singleton term birth cases. Independent variables included sociodemographic characteristics, clinical complications, work characteristics, and physical effort devoted to household chores. A backward multiple logistic regression analysis was applied for a model using work characteristics, controlled by cluster sampling design. On bivariate analysis, discontinuing work during pregnancy and working until the 7th month of pregnancy were risks for premature birth while working during the 8th - 9th month of pregnancy, prolonged standing during work and doing household chores appeared to be protective against sPTB during pregnancy. Previous preterm birth, polyhydramnios, vaginal bleeding, stopping work during pregnancy, or working until the 7th month of pregnancy were risk factors in the multivariate analysis. The protective effect of variables compatible with exertion during paid work may represent a reverse causality. Nevertheless, a reduced risk associated with household duties, and working until the 8th-9th month of pregnancy support the hypothesis that some sort of physical exertion may provide actual protection against sPTB. Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology University of Campinas (Unicamp) School of Medicine Jundiai School of Medicine Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu - UNESP - Casa Maternal Leonor Mendes de Barros - FIOCRUZ - Instituto Fernandes Figueira - Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre - Hospital das Clinicas da FMRP-USP - Hospital das Clínicas da UFPE - Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal do PR - Hospital Estadual de Sumaré - Hospital São Paulo - UNIFESP - Hospital Universitário da UFMA - Hospital Universitário Lauro Wanderley da UFPB - IMIP Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira - Instituto de Saúde Elpídio de Almeida (ISEA) - Maternidade Climério de Oliveira - Maternidade Escola Assis Chateaubriand - Maternidade Escola de Vila Nova Cachoeirinha Dr. Mario Moraes A. Silva - Santa Casa de Limeira - Santa Casa de São Carlos - Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu - UNESP