Maternal occupation in agriculture during pregnancy and congenital anomalies: A case‐control study

Abstract

The objective is to analyze the potential effect on the embryo of maternal occupation in agriculture during pregnancy.

Study design: We have used the ongoing case‐control data from the Spanish Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformations (ECEMC), to analyze the possible association between maternal occupation in agriculture during pregnancy and congenital defects. Cases and controls are identified by pediatricians at each of the collaborating hospitals. The same physicians collect the child’s and obstetrical data and interview the mothers of cases and controls within the first 3 days of life.

The results indicated that working in agriculture during pregnancy implies a small but statistically significant risk for congenital defects (OR ${}={}$ 1.28; Confidence Intervals – CI: 1.09–1.50). We applied different logistic regression models to control for the following possible confounders: parental consanguinity, previous spontaneous abortions, number of pregnancies, maternal age, maternal educational level, maternal smoking, alcohol consumption, intake of vitamins, minerals, iron, and other drugs, vaginal bleeding, maternal acute and chronic diseases, fever, and birth weight.

Conclusion: The results suggest that maternal occupation in agriculture during pregnancy increases the risk for microcephaly (OR $=$ 5.84; $p={}$ 0.04), and cardiovascular defects (OR ${}={}$ 3.27; $p={}$ 0.0007). The results also suggest a relationship with neural tube defects (OR ${}={}$ 2.42; $p={}$ 0.08).