Feinberg J S, Kelley C R
Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
West J Med. 1998 Feb;168(2):86-92.
The demographics of the workforce have changed dramatically in recent decades. Today women constitute nearly 50% of the workforce, and most are in their reproductive years. Women are employed in occupations with exposures to strenuous physical exertion, chemicals, ionizing radiation, heat, noise, vibration, infectious agents, and stress. These factors can, in some instances, pose risks to pregnant workers and their developing fetuses. Primary care physicians are at times asked to assess the work environment and the safety of employment during pregnancy. Physicians who evaluate pregnant workers should be aware of the available databases and understand the process for evaluating a possible reproductive risk. Physician certification that a worker is disabled due to pregnancy can result in a substantial financial burden to both employer and employee. In this article, we review pertinent legal and employment issues related to pregnancy, provide clues to obtaining an individual exposure history, identify categories of concern for pregnant workers, and provide an approach to assessing the risk for each of these categories.
近几十年来，劳动力的人口结构发生了巨大变化。如今，女性占劳动力总数的近50%，且大多数处于生育年龄。女性所从事的职业会接触到高强度体力劳动、化学物质、电离辐射、高温、噪音、振动、传染源和压力。在某些情况下，这些因素会对怀孕的工人及其发育中的胎儿构成风险。初级保健医生有时会被要求评估工作环境以及孕期工作的安全性。评估怀孕工人的医生应该了解可用的数据库，并明白评估潜在生殖风险的流程。医生开具的因怀孕导致工人残疾的证明可能会给雇主和雇员带来巨大的经济负担。在本文中，我们回顾了与怀孕相关的法律和就业问题，提供获取个人接触史的线索，确定怀孕工人需要关注的类别，并提供评估这些类别中每一类风险的方法。
