Pregnancy outcomes among female hairdressers who participated in the Danish National Birth Cohort

Abstract

Objectives: The Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) was used to examine pregnancy outcomes among female hairdressers and neurodevelopment in their offspring. Methods: A population-based cohort study was conducted of 550 hairdressers and 3216 shop assistants (reference group) by using data from the Danish National Birth Cohort between 1997 and 2003. Information on job characteristics was reported by the women in the first interview (around 17 weeks of gestation). Pregnancy outcomes were obtained by linkage to the national registers. Developmental milestones were reported by the mother at the fourth interview, when the child was approximately 19 months old. Cox regression was applied to analyze fetal loss and congenital malformation. Logistic regression was used to analyze other pregnancy outcomes and developmental milestones. Results: We found no significant differences in fetal loss, multiple births, gender ratio, preterin birth, small-for-gestational age, congenital malformations, or achievement of developmental milestones among the children of hairdressers and shop assistants. Conclusions: The results do not indicate that children of hairdressers in Denmark currently have a high risk of fetal impairment or delayed psychomotor development.