Night shifts may affect pregnancy

WORKING two or more night shifts in a week has been linked to a raised risk of miscarriage. A Danish study published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine linked payroll data on 22,744 pregnant women with data on births and admissions to hospital for miscarriage.

After week eight of pregnancy, women who had worked two or more night shifts the previous week had a 32 per cent higher risk of miscarriage. As an observational study, it can’t establish cause, but a theory is that light at night disrupts the body clock and the release of melatonin, a hormone important in maintaining pregnancy.