Miscarriage is a deeply emotional and physically challenging experience. Normally, the risk lies between 15 and 20 percent.
Yet, according to a recent Danish study, some women face a slightly higher risk depending on their line of work.
Researchers from the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital analyzed data from one million pregnant women between 1977 and 2018.
Their findings, published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine, revealed that women in certain professions experienced up to three more miscarriages per 100 pregnancies than average.
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The difference may seem minor, but it points to a subtle link between job-related stress factors and early pregnancy loss that could have broad social implications.
The hidden risk factors
The study examined four types of psychosocial exposures in the workplace: quantitative demands, influence, emotional demands, and exposure to physical violence.
After accounting for age, education, income, smoking, and other known risk factors, one pattern stood out.
Women in jobs with high emotional strain and a risk of violence appeared to be more vulnerable.
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Professions such as psychologists, social workers, teachers, child care workers, and many roles within the healthcare sector showed a slightly increased rate of miscarriage.
These are jobs where empathy, care, and constant interaction with others are central, and where emotional burdens can be significant.
Why it matters
Senior researcher Karin Sørig Hougaard from the National Research Centre for the Working Environment emphasized that the increased risk for individual women is small.
However, since so many women work in emotionally demanding professions, the overall impact on society could be meaningful.
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She hopes the study’s findings will encourage workplaces to consider the psychological and emotional environments of pregnant employees, not just the physical ones.
Source: Woman.dk, and Occupational & Environmental Medicine.
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