Health effects and psychological stress in pregnant women engaged in work outside the home

Abstract

Modern society demands working conditions in which pregnant women can successfully deliver children and maintain a professional position. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of work on the health and psychological stress in working women and their newborns. We reviewed twenty-eight publications and found that health problems in working women occur at high rates. However, there is no report investigating the mechanism by which health problems occur, or describing the precise working conditions and symptoms in pregnant women who are engaged in work outside the home. In addition, the literature uses subjective evaluations, including psychological tests, to quantify stress and anxiety, but no biochemical analyses of stress-related substances were conducted. We suggest that a standard index to represent working conditions and job category, as well as an investigation of the workload of house-keeping, is needed to understand the total work effort by pregnant women in modern times. Finally, measurement of stress-related biological markers may be effective in the investigation from various perspectives of occupational stress in pregnant women.