Effect of pregnancy during TMI crisis on mothers' mental health and their child's development

Abstract

Five years after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the mental health of women who had been pregnant and living within 10 miles of Three Mile Island at the time of the accident was similar to that of women from the same area who became pregnant after the accident. Ratings of the development of the two groups of children when they were 5 years old were also similar. However, women who were pregnant during the crisis and had been ''extremely disturbed'' about their pregnancies rated their children's health as poorer than did the women who were pregnant later.