How Does Indoor Air Pollution Affect Expecting Mothers?

We spend about 90% of our time indoors. Common indoor pollutants can affect your pregnancy. This can include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. Recent research shows that air pollution can hurt your unborn baby. It may be time to look at your HVAC system. While the HVAC system can help with air quality, a dirty system can make you breathe unhealthy air. Here is how indoor air pollution can affect you during pregnancy.

It Can Lead to Preterm Birth

If your baby is born earlier than the 37th week, doctors consider the baby to be preterm. Preterm delivery puts your baby at risk of many problems later in life. This can include physical disabilities, brain disorders, breathing problems, and heart problems. While there are many causes for premature births, one of them is indoor air pollution. You can avoid this with help from an HVAC professional.

Studies have shown a relationship between indoor air pollution and preterm birth. About 18% of all preterm births are because of air pollution.

Low Birth Weight

After birth, a healthy baby usually weighs between six and nine pounds. Health experts consider any weight that is less than five pounds during delivery as low.

Several studies have shown the affects of air pollution on a baby's birth weight. One study showed that mothers living in polluted areas had babies with a low birth weight. They weighed an average of 0.69 pounds less than those born in less contaminated areas.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

The Harvard School of Public Health. It showed that women exposed to air pollution delivered a baby with autism at twice the rate. This was when compared to mothers not exposed to air pollution. The researchers found that the risk to your baby was significant in the third trimester.

Asthma

You do not have to worry about asthma affecting you if it is well controlled. Having uncontrolled asthma when pregnant can cause many problems. It can cause premature delivery, pre-eclampsia, or high blood pressure.

It doesn't matter how well you have managed to control asthma. Air pollution can worsen the symptoms. Research has also shown that air pollution can increase the risk of your baby having asthma.

You can avoid many things that may affect your health and baby's health during pregnancy. Do not let indoor air pollution stop you of the chances of a blissful delivery, and happy child. Contact Robert Bair Plumbing Heating and Cooling for more information. We can fix your HVAC system. We want to help protect you and your family from the dangers in the air.