Authored By:
Boileau et alThis cohort study investigated if maternal mobile phone use was associated with fetal development during pregnancy. The cohort included 1378children born between 2014 and 2017. The study’s assessment was based on self-reported maternal mobile phone use and hospital records of birth outcomes. The study reported that the children of mothers who used mobile phones for longer than thirty minutes per day were more likely to be in the 10th lowest fetal growth percentile (odds ratio 1.54 and 95% confidence interval of 1.03 – 2.31). The authors concluded that the results should be interpreted with caution because other indicators of fetal growth restriction, such as birth weight, were not significantly changed with mobile phone use. Further, the authors stated that their results did not account for some socioeconomic confounding factors such as housing type.
Published In:
Journal of Gynecology Obstetrics and Human Reproduction, July 2020Previous studies have found no association between maternal use of mobile phones and reduction in fetal growth (Mortazavi et al, 2013 and Tsarna et al, 2019). Although, the current study reported adverse effects on fetal development their results are limited by confounding factors that were not accounted for and the conflicting outcomes from other indicators of fetal growth. A number of reviews have assessed the body of evidence of the effect of radio waves on pregnancy outcomes including fetal growth. The reviews by the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR), Public Health England and by ARPANSA concluded there is no substantiated evidence that radio wave exposure can effect fetal growth or other pregnancy outcomes.
