Effects of Post-Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Sanctions on Weight Gain of Pregnant Mothers, Birth Weight, and Food Security of Their Families (2017-2020)

Background: Sanctions against a country could be a shock to the country s economy for a specific period. Iran has been subject to various sanctions for the past 40 years, and these sanctions have intensified since 2011. Unprecedented sanctions were imposed on Iranians after the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement, and a disastrous economic situation was the outcome of this international issue. The present study aims to evaluate the impact of this situation on weight gain of pregnant mothers and birth weight as well as food security of their families. Methods: The data of pregnant women and newborns were extracted from Sina Electronic Health System (SinaEHR®) questionnaires. These questionnaires were completed by trained healthcare workers in comprehensive health service centers. The data of 266,182 pregnant women were collected through questionnaires from 19 comprehensive health centers related to Razavi Khorasan province and were prepared for statistical analysis. Then, data analysis was done using the statistical method of Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) by SPSS software. Results: Examining the data of 266,182 pregnant mothers during the sanctions period of 2017 to 2020 in Iran shows that the weight gain of pregnant mothers (P 0.001) and the birth weight of the newborns (P 0.047) have decreased significantly. Conclusion: According to the results, there has been a significant reduction in the two variables of weight gain in pregnant women and newborns’ birth weight, which confirms the debilitative effects of sanctions on these important outcomes.