Pregnancy Care in Polluted Air

A member of the faculty of the Department of Midwifery at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences said: “The fetus feeds on the mother’s blood and its health depends on the amount of oxygen in the mother’s bloodstream, so unhealthy air has a detrimental effect on it.”
Stating that air pollution has a detrimental effect on the health of the fetus, Parvin Bahadoran said: “Air pollution enters the mother’s lungs through breathing and is absorbed into the fetus through the bloodstream, and because the fetus receives the mother’s blood, the mother needs to breathe in clean air.”
She added: “The mother may be able to tolerate the problems of air pollution or adapt to it, but because the fetus feeds on the mother’s blood and its health depends on the amount of oxygen in the mother’s bloodstream, unhealthy air has a detrimental effect on it, and therefore it is very important for the mother to breathe in healthy air.”
Stating that pregnancy is divided into two categories of low-risk and high-risk pregnancies, the university lecturer continued: “For women with high-risk pregnancies, breathing in polluted air is dangerous. In pregnancies with abnormal fetal growth and the risk of premature birth, a history of maternal infertility, multiple pregnancies, women with cardiovascular problems, and chronic maternal diseases, breathing polluted air puts the pregnancy at greater risk.”

Bahadoran stated that in high-risk pregnancies where the fetus does not grow well, mothers should not travel in polluted air, adding: “Because the level of blood oxidants increases during air pollution, it is better for these mothers to be exposed to air pollution at all or to a lesser extent.” Stating that consuming fruits, vegetables, and foods containing antioxidants on days of air pollution is very beneficial for pregnant women, she added: “It is better for pregnant women to go out less on polluted days and increase their consumption of antioxidants; also, they should not do activities such as walking that increase the rate of breathing so that the amount of toxins they receive is minimized.” This member of the faculty of the Department of Midwifery at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences stated: “Although the complications of air pollution in women who do not have high-risk pregnancies are not as severe as in women with high-risk pregnancies, even they should not be exposed to pollution. In general, pregnant mothers need healthy air to see better results during pregnancy.”