Occupational Standing, Walking, Forward Bending May Be Linked to Miscarriage

TUESDAY, June 30, 2026 (HealthDay News) — The risk of miscarriage is increased in association with occupational standing, walking, and forward bending during pregnancy, according to a study published online June 18 in Occupation & Environmental Medicine.

Hannah Nørtoft Frankel, M.D., Ph.D., from Bispebjerg Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues examined the association between occupational standing, walking, and forward bending ≥30 degrees during pregnancy and the risk of miscarriage in a register-based study comprising 803,829 pregnancies among 475,312 women in Denmark between 2004 and 2018.

The researchers found that the risk of miscarriage was increased in association with all three exposures. The adjusted hazard ratio for miscarriage was 1.03, 1.18, and 1.36 per additional hour of occupational standing, occupational walking, and occupational forward bending, respectively. Compared to those without, women with absence from work the preceding week had more pronounced adjusted hazard ratios. A consistent exposure–response relationship was seen for forward bending in post-hoc quartile analyses, while at the highest quartile, the associations for standing and walking decreased.

“Given the anticipated residual confounding and uncertainties in the highest exposure levels, our findings may be too restricted,” the authors write. “To confirm and refine these findings, replication in similar populations, together with the incorporation of smoking status and other maternal health information, is essential.”

Abstract/Full Text