A new study has stated that the time between conceive and birth is one of the most sensitive life stages, during which the environment may have awful immediate and terrible effects on health. Expectant mothers in rural India who breathe in indoor polluted air are more likely to give birth to underweight babies than normal babies, says doctors. Air pollution causes babies to be born smaller, underweight and unhealthy.
According to research findings, Indoor air pollution caused by Chulha’s (burning woods), coal and animal dung was the major factor behind the occurrence of a slew of diseases including respiratory diseases among women. Not only low birth weight, the continuous exposure of pregnant women to air pollution can also lead to asthma, brain deformity and improper growth among new-borns, according to doctors.
Bandita Sinha, an obstetrics and gynaecology specialist at Apollo Hospital and Fortis stated, “If a pregnant woman is exposed to too much of air pollution, carbon monoxide in the air causes interference in the passage of oxygen, which leads to oxygen insufficiency and hence results in low birth weight or even death”. More than 5 lacs lives lost in India every year due to indoor air pollution including women and children, as per data released by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Talking about her study, Nilesha Chitre, gynaecologist at SRV Hospital stated,” People in rural parts of the country have to understand that the total suspended particles present inside a kitchen has 1,000 times greater chance to penetrate deep into the lungs than the suspended particles outside”, further she stated that women are constantly exposed to chulha smoke in India due to several cultural mindsets.
Children born with low weight are at high risk of dying in infancy and are more susceptible to disease. Studies have also linked low birth weight cause pneumonia after birth because of a weak immune system caused by indoor air pollution.
