According to Human Rights Watch (hrw.org): “Air pollution and stress from wildfires is on the rise with specific harms for maternal health, but experiences from Oregon indicate that public health officials are not doing enough to reach pregnant people with vital health hazard information.
 |
| “Wildfires threaten pregnancy in US” – Human Rights Watch (HRW). Photo: @hrw |
“It’s crucial for state and federal governments to address the environmental harms to pregnancy that intersect with racism and unfairness in income, quality housing, and safe work.
“Federal, state, and local governments should prioritize disproportionately affected communities and include these groups in planning how to reach the people who can most benefit from the information.”
HRW continued: ““Pregnancy health and wellbeing is at risk in the US, with deep and painful unjust inequities between communities,” said Aver Yakubu, program director at Nurturely. “We’re living in the climate crisis now and it’s crucial for state and federal governments to address the effects of environmental harms on pregnancy that intersect with systemic racism factors, such as economic inequities that dictate whether someone can temporarily leave a smokey area or not, quality housing, and safe work environments.””
