Can Moving to a New Home During Pregnancy Raise the Risk of Preterm Birth?

The first three months of pregnancy is the most critical period for the mother. If you are planning on moving to a new residence during this phase, then there is a high chance it might affect the birth of the child and even add more risks of premature birth. According to the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, another significant risk factor is that the size of the baby can be smaller than usual due to the unnecessary stress of shifting.

Julia bond, the lead author who took part in the research program at UW school of public health, claims that there are no practical records to state the risks of moving to a new residence during the first three months of pregnancy. She also claims that their report with an in-depth investigation will bring more focused attention to the families to consider moving as a risk factor.

Some More Studies & Research

The potential health impacts of moving during the first three months of pregnancy are still under investigation. To add more relevant data, the researchers took a look at the birth certificate of the newborn between 2007 & 2014 in the state of Washington for the mothers aged 18 or higher.

The researchers planned a survey and selected over 30,000 women who shifted their residence during the first three months of their pregnancy. These 30,000 women were compared with the lot of 1, 20,000 women who gave birth to babies in the same year and did not move during the first trimester of the pregnancy, i.e., three months.

The survey was done to confront the results of the adverse health impacts imposed on the baby due to the mother moving to a new residence during the first trimester of pregnancy. This survey resulted in the figures of about 37% increased risk of lower birth-weight and 42% risk of premature birth for the mothers who moved to a new place during the first three months of pregnancy.

It states that there is a probable risk to the baby due to shifting during early pregnancy, so consulting a medical expert or physician is a must if you are pregnant and willing to shift your residence, as mentioned in the report.

What to Do?

Here are the few things that you could do to reduce stress while shifting to a new house during pregnancy:

1. Consult your doctors before you pick a reasonable date to move from your residence to avoid adverse impacts on the health of the baby and yourself.
2. Do the packing beforehand to avoid stressing the mother and the baby. Keep it slow, but keep enough time for it. This will not only help you to remember the essentials but will also reduce the strain on the baby.
3. Do not rush with the unpacking process and keep it slow just similar to your packing process. Only unpack the essentials and rest all can go slowly.

This way you can enjoy the experience of moving to a brand new place and meeting new people without putting yourself or your baby at risk.