Troubling connection between workplace pregnancy discrimination and health of mothers, babies
Researcher shares practical steps for managers to combat discrimination
July 7, 2020
Science Daily/Baylor University
Perceived pregnancy discrimination indirectly relates to increased levels of postpartum depressive symptoms for mothers and lower birth weights, lower gestational ages and increased numbers of doctor visits for babies, according to a management study led by Baylor University.
The study -- "Examining the Effects of Perceived Pregnancy Discrimination on Mother and Baby Health" -- is published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
"Despite being illegal, pregnancy discrimination still takes place in the workplace," said lead author Kaylee Hackney, Ph.D., assistant professor of management in Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business. "Obviously, this is troublesome. Our research highlights the negative impact that perceived pregnancy discrimination can have on both the mother's and the baby's health."
The researchers surveyed 252 pregnant employees over the course of two studies. They measured perceived pregnancy discrimination, perceived stress, demographics and postpartum depressive symptoms. The second study included the measurements of the babies' health outcomes, including gestational age (number of weeks of pregnancy when the baby was delivered), Apgar score (heart rate, respiration, muscle tone, reflex response and color), birth weight and visits to the doctor.
Sample survey statements and questions used to measure perceived discrimination, perceived stress and postpartum depressive symptoms included: "Prejudice toward pregnant workers exists where I work," "In the last month, how often have you felt nervous or stressed?" and "I am so unhappy that I cry." Mothers also logged their babies' health outcomes.
"I think the biggest surprise from this research is that pregnancy discrimination not only negatively impacted the mother, but also negatively impacted the baby she was carrying while experiencing the discrimination," Hackney said. "This just shows the far-reaching implications of workplace discrimination and highlights the importance of addressing it."
More than 50,000 discrimination claims in a decade
The study noted that over the last decade, more than 50,000 pregnancy discrimination claims were filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Fair Employment Practices Agencies in the United States.
Pregnancy discrimination is defined as unfavorable treatment of women at work due to pregnancy, childbirth or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, Hackney said. Pregnant women perceive discrimination when they experience subtly hostile behaviors such as social isolation, negative stereotyping and negative or rude interpersonal treatment.
Examples might include lower performance expectations, transferring the pregnant employee to less-desirable shifts or assignments or inappropriate jokes and intrusive comments.
Practical steps for managers
Given that pregnancy discrimination led to adverse health outcomes through increased stress, the researchers believe managers are in a unique position to provide the support that pregnant employees need to reduce stress.
Some steps managers might take include:
Providing flexible schedules
Keeping information channels open and the employee in the loop, specifically with regards to work-family benefits and expectations leading up to leave/returning from leave
Accommodating prenatal appointments
Helping to plan maternity leave arrangements
Normalizing breastfeeding in the workplace
"Overall, I would suggest that managers 1) strive to create a workplace culture where discrimination does not take place and 2) not make assumptions about what pregnant employees want," Hackney said. "The best approach would be to have an open dialogue with their employees about what types of support are needed and desired."
Healthcare partnerships
In addition, Hackney said the findings suggest that healthcare organizations may find opportunities to provide guidance and outreach to workplaces to help pregnant workers reduce stress via reduced pregnancy discrimination and enhanced work-family support for pregnant women.
Some steps may include training managers to be more family supportive and less biased against expectant mothers, she said.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200707120650.htm
If pregnant women use cosmetics containing parabens, this may have consequences
February 12, 2020
Science Daily/Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Parabens are used as preservatives in cosmetics. If pregnant women use cosmetics containing parabens that remain on the skin for protracted periods, this may have consequences for their child's subsequent weight development.
Parabens are used as preservatives in cosmetics. If pregnant women use cosmetics containing parabens that remain on the skin for protracted periods, this may have consequences for their child's subsequent weight development. This is demonstrated in a study published in the journal Nature Communications by researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in collaboration with colleagues from Leipzig University, Charité University Hospital in Berlin and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH). Based on data from the LINA mother-child study, they were further able to identify epigenetic modifications that are triggered by parabens and interfere with the natural regulation of satiety in the brain.
Methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben -- these and similar are the names of parabens commonly used as preservatives. Substances that are used in creams and body lotions to combat microbes can have an undesirably side-effect, however. "If pregnant women absorb parabens through the skin, this can lead to overweight in their children," says UFZ environmental immunologist Dr Tobias Polte. The starting point for the investigations was the LINA mother-child cohort study, a long-term study conducted by the UFZ to examine the significance of environmental factors in sensitive periods of childhood development for the later occurrence of allergies and respiratory diseases or overweight. "We initially wanted to find out whether the parabens detected in urine from expectant mothers from the mother-child cohort had an impact on the development of their children's weight," explains former UFZ researcher Prof. Irina Lehmann, currently at the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and at Charité -- Berlin University Hospital. "In doing so, we discovered a positive correlation between the concentrations of butylparaben in the mothers' urine and a higher body-mass index of their children -- particularly of the daughters -- until their eighth birthday."
In order to find out where the butylparabens in the pregnant women's urine came from in the first place, the researchers combed through the questionnaires completed by the participants in the LINA study for details of the cosmetics used during pregnancy. "Using the ToxFox app developed by BUND enabled us to easily and quickly check whether parabens were among the ingredients of the respective cosmetics products," Polte explains. "And high concentrations of parabens in the mothers' urine were indeed associated with the use of cosmetics containing parabens -- particularly those that remained on the skin for a protracted period of time, such as creams or body lotions."
But how does the use of creams containing parabens by expectant mothers tie in with the child's future overweight? To track down the underlying mechanisms, the team of researchers firstly used cell cultures to examine whether fat cells themselves react to high concentrations of butylparaben. "Butylparaben did not bring about an increase in the size of the fat cells, nor did the fat cells store more fat than otherwise," Lehmann reports. "It was evident that the differentiation of fat cells was not impacted by the parabens." Something else had to be behind the children's weight gain. In collaboration with colleagues from the Medical Faculty at Leipzig University, the researchers used a mouse model to simulate exposure to parabens during pregnancy. In this model, mice absorbed butylparabens through the skin. "Just as in the LINA study, the female offspring here also demonstrated increased weight gain," says Polte. "And they ate significantly more than the offspring of mice from the control group." Consequently, the researchers suspected that parabens might exert an influence on how hunger is regulated in the brain, and performed a closer examination of key genes in the hypothalamus of the mouse offspring.
It became apparent that a gene by the name of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) that is decisive in controlling the feeling of hunger was down-regulated in the brains of the young mice. Further investigations at a genetic level revealed that an epigenetic modification was responsible for this by preventing the corresponding POMC gene from being read. "The influence of parabens during gestation obviously gives rise to epigenetic modifications in the offspring that permanently disrupt the regulation of the natural feeling of satiety. This means that they have a higher food intake," Polte explains. Therefore, parabens seem to constitute as a risk factor during pregnancy for the occurrence of overweight. However, also other factors play an important role in weight gain, such as a hypercaloric diet and lack of exercise.
So far, the researchers have not been able to come to any conclusions on how stable the epigenetic modifications are or whether they can be passed on to the next generation. However, they are already able to make an unambiguous recommendation based on the findings so far: "Bearing in mind the future health of their children, expectant mothers really should use paraben-free products during the sensitive periods of pregnancy and breastfeeding," says Lehmann. Many cosmetics products are already declared to be paraben-free; otherwise, this information can be obtained from the list of ingredients or using the ToxFox app, for instance." The researchers will continue to search for further potential effects of parabens in future investigations. "Epigenetic modifications that relate to the regulation of satiety are only one possible end point," says Polte. "Intergenerational effects of environmental factors have often been underestimated to date. We hope that our research will help to focus greater attention on such factors in future."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200212111438.htm
Products expectant mothers should avoid during first trimester
The list is long and includes cleaning solvents, pesticides, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
October 26, 2015
Science Daily/York University
Expectant mothers in their first trimester should avoid certain cosmetics, cleaning agents and medicines, to protect the developing fetal brain from chemicals that can trigger autism, health researchers advise.
"The products that we use on a daily basis, such as creams and cosmetics, contain chemicals that could potentially affect a developing baby during pregnancy," says Professor Dorota Crawford in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, Faculty of Health.
The list is long: cleaning solvents, pesticides, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as acetylsalicylic acid; misoprostol (a drug used for inducing labor); polychlorinated bisphenyls used as industrial lubricants; polybrominated diphenyl ethers found in wood and textiles; phthalates in PVC flooring, children's toys, and cosmetics and lotions.
The researchers, Crawford and co-authors Christine Wong and Joshua Wais, report that aside from the type of chemical a pregnant woman is exposed to, the duration, the frequency and the concentration level also impact a developing brain at the prenatal stage.
"We recommend that women learn about health effects from exposure to chemical substances in the environment," says PhD candidate Wong, adding that assessment information is found in the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database maintained by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the researchers, prenatal brain development undergoes constant changes and its normal functioning depends greatly on the presence of specific genes at any given time. Since environmental factors influence the expression levels of these critical genes, it is important for an expectant mother to be aware and cautious of exposure to these factors.
This review article by Crawford and coauthors Christine Wong and Joshua Wais, titled "Prenatal exposure to common environmental factors affects brain lipids and increases risk of developing Autism Spectrum Disorders," was recently published in the European Journal of Neuroscience. The authors summarize existing research on environmental agents that can affect the level of important lipid mediators including prostaglandin E2 or PGE2. This major lipid molecule naturally found in the brain is important in regulating the expression of essential genes required for early brain development and its proper function.
Crawford says only a few clinical studies have delved into the dosage level and exposure time that affects the developing brain. "Specific concentration ranges for chemicals and the duration of exposure in humans still need to be established through research."
Investigation into molecular mechanisms that lead to how these chemicals disrupt the growing brain and also how the chemicals enter the fetal brain will be crucial to understand how they may contribute to brain pathologies, according to Crawford.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151026111957.htm