Spontaneous miscarriages and infant deaths among female farmers in rural South Africa
研究调查了南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省农业女性的人口学与职业因素（如农药喷洒、农场所有权）与自然流产和婴儿死亡的关联，发现孕期喷洒农药增加流产风险，而拥有农场或长期务农与婴儿死亡相关。
<h3>Objectives</h3> Limited information exists on occupational exposures and reproductive outcomes in African women. Associations of demographics and occupational factors with spontaneous miscarriages and infant deaths among agricultural women in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa were examined. <h3>Methods</h3> This cross-sectional study described and compared reproductive outcomes among 911 women in agriculture on the irrigation scheme and dry lands of the Makhatini Flats, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Associations between demographics, agricultural activities, physical load, pesticide spraying and self-reported “spontaneous miscarriage” and “infant death” were explored. <h3>Results</h3> Women (N=887) reported 4796 pregnancies, 322 spontaneous miscarriages and 137 infant deaths. Adjusting for age, education, and length of recall of pregnancy, spraying pesticides during the first 3 months of a pregnancy was associated with spontaneous miscarriage both in the irrigation scheme (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.1 to 7.2) and in the dry lands(OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2 to 5.6). Infant death was associated with owning one9s farm or working on a family farm among irrigation scheme women (OR: 2.3; 95% CI 1.2 to 4.4) and working >10 years among dry lands women (OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1 to 4.3). Weeding was inversely associated with infant death among irrigation scheme women (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.7). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Women reporting spontaneous miscarriage were more likely to report spraying pesticides during pregnancy and those reporting infant death were more likely to own their farms and report working longer in agriculture.