Living in Green Neighborhood Lowers Risk of Pregnancy Complications and Pre-term Births: Study

Women who live green neighborhoods are less likely to have pregnancy complications and premature deliveries, finds a study.

Past studies hold people residing around greenery are happier and healthier than those living in urban areas. Experts from the Oregon State University and University  of British Columbia discovered another reason why people must consider living amidst tress, grass and green vegetation. Their research found women who lived around greenery had healthy pregnancies and full-term deliveries.

The researchers looked at 64,000 births and noted women from greener neighborhoods had 20 percent lower risk of real early pre-term births and 13 percent lesser chances of having moderate pre-term birth.

In addition, the study recorded babies whose mothers lived in green locations rarely had low birth weight and weighed 45 grams more than infants from urban parts of the country.

The results indicate a direct association between the presence of natural greenery and plants and overall health and well-being of people.

"This was a surprise. We expected the association between greenness and birth outcomes to disappear once we accounted for other environmental exposures such as air pollution and noise. The research really suggests that greenness affects birth outcomes in other ways, such as psychologically or socially," said Perry Hystad, study author and environmental epidemiologist in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State, in a news release.

"We know a lot about the negative influences such as living closer to major roads, but demonstrating that a design choice can have benefits is really uplifting. With the high cost of healthcare, modifying urban design features such as increasing green space may turn out to be extremely cost-effective strategies to prevent disease, while at the same time also providing ecological benefits," added Michael Brauer, co-author and researcher at the University of British Columbia in a news release.

The authors urge planting of trees and plants to make up for the negative impacts of deforestation and urbanization.

More information is available online in the Journal Environmental Health Perspectives.