TUESDAY, June 30, 2026 (NewsDay News) — The risk of miscarriage increases with standing, walking and leaning forward during pregnancy, according to a study published online June 18, 2026. Occupation and environmental medicine.
Hanna Northoft Frankel, MD, Ph.D., of Bispebjerg Hospital, Denmark, and colleagues examined the association between occupational standing, walking, and bending forward ≥30 degrees during pregnancy and the risk of miscarriage in a registry-based study that included 803,821, 803,824 prenatal women in Denmark. 2004 and 2018.
The researchers found that the risk of miscarriage was increased in association with all three exposures. Adjusted hazard ratios for miscarriage were 1.03, 1.18, and 1.36 per additional hour of standing at work, occupational walking, and occupational forward bending, respectively. Compared to those who were unemployed, women who were not employed in the previous week had a higher adjusted hazard ratio. A consistent effect-response relationship was seen for forward bending in postquartile analyses, whereas in the highest quartile, the associations decreased for standing and walking.
“Given the remaining uncertainty and the uncertainty in the highest effect level, our findings may be very limited,” the authors write. “To confirm and refine these findings, replication in similar populations, along with inclusion of smoking status and other maternal health data, is essential.”
