New Studies Link Emf Radiation from Mobile Phones to Adverse Outcomes in Pregnancy, Birth, and Infant Outcomes

If you knew that the top factor that influences the health outcome of your child is something that you use every day, what would you do?

Electro-pollution is invisible radiation that is common in many homes from personal sources such as your mobile phone and the latest smart gadgets, moving subatomic particles (i.e., light in the body) at the speed of light.

It directly affects the human body's electric and biochemical responses, especially during the sensitive stages of pre and post pregnancy.

EMFs harm both the baby in-utero and the pregnant mother

In a recent study published in the journal Heliyon, researchers systematically reviewed and analyzed articles that highlight the impact of harmful electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation on physiological as well as pregnancy outcomes with regards to the mother, birth, and the child.

Electromagnetic fields disorder the body’s physiological balance, increase the lifespan of free radicals, and lead to DNA damage in individuals [22]. In addition, according to gender, density of body tissue, life cycle, and exposure, the effect of environmental pollution varies. Many sources can cause humans to be exposed to magnetic fields. Power supplies, computers, televisions, radios, and telephones are some of these resources.

We’re fundamentally bio-electric in Nature, which means every single cell process runs on bioelectricity. Any artificial electromagnetic fields has the potential to affect these processes.

The female placenta facilitates an exchange of oxygen and nutrients between the tissues of the mother and the fetus. Thus, alterations in the mother’s body can affect fetal growth and development. EMF radiation emitted from mobile phones can penetrate fetal tissues and cause hormonal imbalances in the mother and thermal, anthropometric, and cardiovascular changes in the fetus. Hence, analyzing these radiation-induced damaging effects in terms of physiological and pregnancy outcomes on the mother and the baby is important.

study: Emfs Is Linked to poorer pregnancy and infant outcomes

The researchers looked up all qualitative or qualitative studies printed in English within the past five years that reported the negative physiological and pregnancy outcomes of smartphone induced EMF radiation on mothers and child’s health in humans and animals, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (PRISMA) guidelines.

They found 10,450 published articles, and selected 18 articles.

The studies found that pregnant women exposed to high levels of EMF radiation had elevated levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).

They also had higher rates of miscarriages, premature birth along with low birth weight, fluctuations in temperature, heart rate variability (HRV), altered development of the nervous system, decreased head and chest circumference, hyperactivity, and speech problems in the infant.

Link to the study: El Jarrah, I. and Rababa, M. (2022) "Impacts of smartphone radiation on pregnancy: A systematic review", Heliyon, 8(2), p. e08915. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08915. https://www.cell.com/heliyon/fulltext/S2405-8440(22)00203-1

Emfs Is Linked to Higher Risks of Fetal and Childhood Abnormalities

The following year in 2023, another study was published. It noted that electromagnetic waves can have harmful effects on the cell components that lead to differentiation and abnormalities in cell proliferation, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage, chromosomal abnormalities, cancers, and birth defects.

It also noted that the UK showed that the prevalence of hospital admission due to congenital anomalies has increased significantly from 1999 to 2019. It also cited an Australian study from 2005 to 2015 reported an increasing trend in admissions due to congenital anomalies

It showed:

• In mothers who have more exposure to EMFs, the odds of fetal developmental disorders in fetus were 1.34 times as many as in mothers who have no exposure to EMFs. The odds for development disorders was 2.10.

• In mothers who have more exposure to EMFs, the mean change in gene expression in fetus was 1.02 units as many as in mothers who have no exposure to EMFs.

• In mothers that have more exposure to EMFs, the mean of antioxidant parameters in fetus was 0.84 units lower than in mothers that have no exposure to EMFs.

Link to the study: Electromagnetic fields exposure on fetal and childhood abnormalities: Systematic review and meta-analysis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10183723/

What EMFs do to the human body — the fertility link

In today’s world, EMF exposure is more or less inevitable. 

Unless you live way out in the woods, where you live is a matrix of wireless routers and cellphones.

In fact, EMFs messes with your biology in a few different ways that are most directly detrimental to fertility, conception, and throughout the pregnancy process! What we do know:

• Infertility in men. A 2014 study found that cell phone exposure reduces sperm quality. People who carried mobile phones that were actively receiving cell signals (that is, their phones were not in airplane mode) saw a significant decrease in sperm motility and viability[*]. 

• Infertility in women. A study of 462 pregnant women in Tehran found that the women experienced a significant increase in miscarriages after exposure to EMFs[*]. On top of that, a 2015 study found that EMF exposure increased the number of viable eggs you lose with each menstrual cycle[*].

• Decreased sleep quality. A 2019 study found that daily exposure to EMFs disrupts sleep and contribute to both depression and anxiety[*]. Another study found that EMF exposure caused people to release less melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy and helps you access the deepest, most restorative stages of sleep[*].

• Mental stress. EMFs cause concentrated oxidative stress in your brain[*][*]. A series of recent studies suggest that EMF exposure could even be a cause of neurodegeneration as you age, contributing to diseases like dementia[*][*]. This is the total opposite of what we want to mothers during postpartum recovery when the brain is adjusting to a whole new life with baby!

Mothers are increasingly exposed to environmental toxins

How much EMF exposure before it causes harm? It depends on gender, density of body tissue, life cycle, and exposure…

And for pregnant women, exposure to children begins in the womb. Women and babies (including in the womb) are also softer and more vulnerable to the penetration to EMFs.

With the increase in the modernity process and the increase in exposure of mothers to environmental pollutants, the hospital admission rate due to congenital malformations has increased by almost 19% from 1999 to 2019.

Any older mother visiting a gynaecologist’s office is well aware of the script — that mothers above 35 years have an increased risk of congenital anomalies by 3.93 times and the risk of spontaneous abortion by 12.82 times…

References & Resouces

Doi M, Usui N, Shimada S. Prenatal environment and neurodevelopmental disorders. Front Endocrinol. 2022;13:407. [PMC free article] [PubMed]

Otto M, von Mühlendahl KE. Electromagnetic fields (EMF): do they play a role in children’s environmental health (CEH)? Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2007;210(5):635–44. [PubMed]