The Surprising Impact of Disasters on Fertility Rates
Did the stress of 9/11 lead to a spike in miscarriages? In the months after the terrorist attacks, the death rate for male fetuses in the U.S. went up 12%, as detailed in a new study in the BMC Public Health Journal. The study (PDF is here) hypothesizes that the rise in miscarriages may have been caused by “communal bereavement”—which may have in turn disproportionately impacted males, who seem to be more sensitive to stress hormones in the womb.
People have speculated for decades about how major disasters impact fertility rates. The research is sparse but intriguing. A fascinating 2005 study, “Did Fertility Go up after the Oklahoma City Bombing? An Analysis of Births in Metropolitan Counties in Oklahoma,” determined that births did indeed rise after the Oklahoma City bombing. Why? Well, no one knows for sure, but the authors speculated that people’s priorities might have shifted after the trauma:
“[W]hen mortality becomes salient, people behave increasingly according to traditional values. Having children and raising families would be such a traditional response.”
Did a resurgence in family values happen after 9/11 as well? The BMC Public Health study does not analyze pregnancy rates. But it suggests that the attacks may have triggered a biological response not within women’s conscious control—a surge of stress hormones even in women not directly affected by the attacks.
In both cases, intense media coverage of the terrorist attacks magnified their emotional impact on the rest of the nation. It’s cosmic to think about what this means for the families and fetuses of the future. As media coverage of disasters becomes ever more immediate and vivid, can we expect even greater impact on fertility? Will we all be more affected, subliminally or not, by trauma we did not actually experience? Or will we develop a sort of numbness to the montage of oil spills, hurricane-force winds and devastation projected on our screens?
Timothy Chen Allen said on June 09, 2010 at 2:58 pm
My son, Daniel, was born just weeks after 9/11. I remember thinking that it might affect his birth; fortunately it did not. But he *has* always seemed a bit more nervous about disasters. I’ve alway thought we were lucky that 9/11 happened so far into the pregnancy; it might very well have affected him if it had happened sooner.
Tony To ews said on June 29, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Sometimes there are other reasons. Before the days of satellite TV and cable in towns and small cities in rural Canada some vandals cut some guy wires leading to the only Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan TV station broadcast tower. It took a number of months to replace the tower
The doctors in the area had an “Oh cr*p” moment about four or five months later as they stared seeing a large spike in prenatal exams.
The spike was large enough in one town that instead of requiring two classrooms per grade they required three class rooms. In other words about 50% more births in that time period compared to the normal year. And that “bubble” continued through to high school graduation.
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