A new study found that the number of stillbirths significantly increased after the hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
According to NOAA's National Hurricane Center, Katrina is considered one of the five deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in the United States. The devastating disaster affected several areas in the country, including Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and most of eastern North America in August 2005. It took 1,833 lives and caused an estimated damage of $108 billion.
Hurricane Rita, which made its landfall in Sabine Pass, Texas a month after Katrina, claimed nearly 125 lives and caused approximately $12 billion worth of damages. Other areas affected were Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, and other countries such as Canada and Europe.
Researchers from Colorado State University led by assistant professor Sammy Zahran initiated the study after seeing an increased number of stillbirths shortly after the two catastrophic events. They looked at the data of stillbirths among pregnant women from the affected areas 28 months following the hurricanes.
Their analysis revealed that the affected areas in Louisiana showed a 40 percent higher risk of stillbirths compared to the unaffected areas. They calculated a seven percent increase in the number of stillbirths for every one percent of housing damage. That measures out to be about 205 stillbirths from the damaged areas attributed to the hurricanes, Healthday News reports.
Researchers believe the stress, depression and trauma experienced by the pregnant women contributed to birth complications and stillbirths.
"You can have two mothers with equal characteristics - age, race,and so on, but if one happens to be in a more severely destroyed area, the risk of still birth is higher," said Prof. Zahran to the New York Times.
Further details of the study were published on the May 8 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
