Medically recommended cessation of employment among pregnant women in Georgia.

OBJECTIVE

To ascertain the proportion of employed pregnant women who receive medical advice to stop working during pregnancy and to describe their characteristics.

METHODS

Data were analyzed from the Georgia Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, a surveillance system that surveys new mothers about pregnancy risk factors, health behaviors, and birth-related outcomes. Employment during pregnancy was defined as work for pay for 10 hours or more per week.

RESULTS

We studied 1635 women who were employed during pregnancy. A physician or nurse had advised 27.7% (95% CI 24.5%, 30.9%) of them to stop working during pregnancy. Independent predictors of receiving this advice were hospitalization (RR 2.3, 95% CI 1.7, 2.8) and history of previous preterm birth (RR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1, 2.2). Low birth weight (under 2500 g) occurred in 5.8% of women not advised to stop work, in 6.9% of women advised to stop work because of swelling, fatigue, stress, or another reason, and in 13.4% of women advised to stop work because of labor, high blood pressure, or vaginal bleeding (P <.001). Among women advised to stop working in the first through seventh months of pregnancy, 91.7% (95% CI 88.8, 94.5) delivered at 36 or more weeks' gestation.

CONCLUSION

Work cessation during pregnancy was commonly recommended in this population and was associated with clinical risk factors and adverse birth outcomes. For some women it resulted in a long period of work absence before delivery.