ArticleEvolution, medicine, and public health2015
Effects of wildfire disaster exposure on male birth weight in an Australian population.
Article in Evolution, medicine, and public health, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Prenatal exposure to wildfire fine particulate matter and fetal growth outcomes in the United States: Findings from the ECHO Cohort.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2026Article
- Impact of Wildland Fire Smoke PMEnvironmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Climate Change and Reproductive Health.Endocrine reviews · 2025Review
- The Camp fire and perinatal health: an example of the generalized synthetic control method to identify susceptible windows of exposure.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Effects of PM2.5 exposure during high bushfire smoke days on birthweight and gestational age in Hunter New England, NSW, Australia. A study on pregnant people who smoke and don't smoke.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Neuroinflammation is dependent on sex and ovarian hormone presence following acute woodsmoke exposure.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Obstetric care for environmental migrants.Irish journal of medical science · 2024Review
- Consequences of Natural and Man-made Disasters on Pregnancy Outcomes and Complications: A Systematic Review.Archives of academic emergency medicine · 2024Review
- Bushfires and Mothers' Mental Health in Pregnancy and Recent Post-Partum.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Asthma and landscape fire smoke: A Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand position statement.Respirology (Carlton, Vic.) · 2023Review
- Retrospective analysis of wildfire smoke exposure and birth weight outcomes in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.Environmental research, health : ERH · 2023Article
- Wildfire Smoke Exposure during Pregnancy: A Review of Potential Mechanisms of Placental Toxicity, Impact on Obstetric Outcomes, and Strategies to Reduce Exposure.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Health Outcomes in Children Associated with Prenatal and Early-Life Exposures to Air Pollution: A Narrative Review.Toxics · 2022Review
- Birth Outcomes, Health, and Health Care Needs of Childbearing Women following Wildfire Disasters: An Integrative, State-of-the-Science Review.Environmental health perspectives · 2022Review
- Article
- Exposure to Stress and Air Pollution from Bushfires during Pregnancy: Could Epigenetic Changes Explain Effects on the Offspring?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
- Pregnant Women Who Smoke May Be at Greater Risk of Adverse Effects from Bushfires.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Creating Clean Air Spaces During Wildland Fire Smoke Episodes: Web Summit Summary.Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Impact of Wildfire Smoke on Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Colorado, 2007-2015.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesMaternal stress can depress birth weight and gestational age, with potential health effects. A growing number of studies examine the effect of maternal stress caused by environmental disasters on birth outcomes. These changes may indicate an adaptive response. In this study, we examine the effects of maternal exposure to wildfire on birth weight and gestational age, hypothesising that maternal stress will negatively influence these measures. METHODOLOGY: Using data from the Australian Capital Territory, we employed Analysis of Variance to examine the influence of the 2003 Canberra wildfires on the weight of babies born to mothers resident in fire-affected regions, while considering the role of other factors.
resultsWe found that male infants born in the most severely fire-affected area had significantly higher average birth weights than their less exposed peers and were also heavier than males born in the same areas in non-fire years. Higher average weights were attributable to an increase in the number of macrosomic infants. There was no significant effect on the weight of female infants or on gestational age for either sex. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings indicate heightened environmental responsivity in the male cohort. We find that elevated maternal stress acted to accelerate the growth of male fetuses, potentially through an elevation of maternal blood glucose levels. Like previous studies, our work finds effects of disaster exposure and suggests that fetal growth patterns respond to maternal signals. However, the direction of the change in birth weight is opposite to that of many earlier studies.
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