Exposure to 9/11 disaster tied to low birthweight, preterm delivery

Researchers found that among women who were rescue orrecovery workers responding to the events of 9/11, or women whoresided below Canal Street in the World Trade Center'sneighbourhood, those with the most intense exposures to thedisaster had doubled rates of preterm delivery and lowbirthweight babies over the next few years.

The researchers matched birth certificates for infants bornin New York City between September 11, 2001 and the end of 2010to disaster exposure data on women who were enrolled in theWorld Trade Center Health Registry.

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Almost 7 per cent of the babies were delivered preterm,meaning before 37 weeks of pregnancy, and 6 per cent had lowbirthweight, meaning they weighed less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces.

We can't prevent the disaster but we can doa better job of responding to it.-Dr. IrisUdasin

The researchers also looked at the mothers' level ofexposure to the disaster and its aftermathfor example,whether they were injured, witnessed traumatic scenes, wereevacuated from a residence in the neighbourhood, performed rescueor recovery work "on the pile" (of smoldering wreckage), andother types of exposure.

Infants whose mothers performed rescue or recovery work were1.9 times more likely to be born preterm in the first couple ofyears.

Increase attention to mental health care

Physical contaminants and psychological trauma tend to occursimultaneously in a disaster setting, and disentangling theirrelative effects is very difficult, Maslow told Reuters Healthby email.

It may never be clear exactly how these interactions work,she said.

"The real message is, increasing attention to mental healthcare," Udasin said. "We can't prevent the disaster but we can doa better job of responding to it."

"Women who have been exposed to a disaster, including thoseinvolved in disaster response, should inform the prenatal careprovider of the nature and extent of their exposure," Maslowsaid.