Effects of bushfire stress on birth outcomes: A cohort study of the 2009 Victorian Black Saturday bushfires

Previous studies show that shorter gestation, lower birth-weight and fewer male births can result from maternal exposure to environmental disasters. We examined the 2009 Black Saturday fires in Victoria, Australia using a population cohort method. This study principally finds small but significant increases in pre-term birth (p=0.04) and decreases in birth-weight (p=0.001) in infants whose mothers were exposed to the fires late in the second trimester or during the third trimester. Because environmental disasters are an increasing threat and poor birth outcomes can have detrimental effects across the lifespan, understanding the relationship between environmental disasters and birth outcomes is important for future disaster policy.