A woman’s ability to get pregnant may be strongly affected by working long hours and regularly engaging in heavy lifting.
This discovery by researchers from the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
To arrive at this conclusion, the researchers led by Dr. Audrey J. Gaskins of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, analysed the data of 1,739 women of an average age of 33 who were part of the 2010-2014 Nurses’ Health Study.
Most of the women in the study worked days or nights only, while 16% worked rotating shifts. More than 30% of the women reportedly worked for more than 8 hours daily while 40% of the women reported lifting heavy objects five times daily. All women included in the study were attempting to get pregnant.
The researchers found that women who worked for more than 40 hours weekly took around 20% longer to get pregnant when compared to women who worked 21-40 hours weekly.
The researchers also found that women who moved or lifted a minimum of 25 pounds weekly in weight more than 15 times a day took around 50% longer to get pregnant than women who never lifted or moved heavy loads.
The researchers believe their work shows that heavy work both in terms of physical strain and long working hours appear to have a detrimental impact on women’s ability to get pregnant.
S.O.Z