Population- adult women, including the pregnant women
Intervention-avoiding chemicals during pregnancy
Comparison –miscarriages
Outcome- the patients will have fewer complications during pregnancy
PICO Question
In pregnant women, how effective is it for them to avoid working in chemical based conditions and environment?
Background
Most women fail to take precaution measures during pregnancy, where they work in every provided condition. Some women only think that they should stop working only when they are in the advanced stages of pregnancy. For example, in the provided case, Maria is working as a cleaning agent in a household cleaning company, which specializes in cleaning small residences and small office buildings. Maria says that she always notices some pieces of strange chemicals, something that she had never considered investigating. She assumes that the chemical is there due to the cleaning products used by the resident. Maria does not have frequent pre-natal visits due to lack of money. Her medical history shows that she had a miscarriage a year earlier. One child in her neighborhood has developed some cancer.
Exposure to chemicals to the pregnant mothers may have many negative implications to the mother and unborn child. Exposure to chemicals may impair the physical activity of the pregnant mother, which can be caused by allergies such as respiratory problems (Doweiko, 2012). These facts can be used by healthcare professionals to provide patients with effective protection measures.
Objective
The aim of the research is to determine, based on evidence, the effects of chemicals on pregnant mothers and unborn kids. We shall also determine how avoiding chemicals by pregnant mothers can help reduce the number of complications in the health care industry in the region.
Search of evidence
The search was started by looking for everything that had to do with chemicals to pregnant women and the unborn children, which extended to young children under the age of five years. In this search, I found out that chemicals affected the health of pregnant women, a good example being Maria. Financial difficulties made her work in a cleaning company that used chemicals, which exposed her to many risks in her previous pregnancy, leading to her miscarriage. On the other hand, the young child may have been exposed to much chemicals as an unborn or as an infant, which made her develop cancer. My research studied on other working conditions that women should avoid while pregnant.
Summary of evidence
My findings in the effects of chemicals on pregnant mothers were encouraging. In my studies, I learnt that pregnant mothers working on chemical conditions have high risk of inhaling the chemicals. Due to their changes in the body, the chemicals find their way to the blood stream. As a result, the unborn child may inhale the chemical, which will result to many complications, such as early deaths (Timbrell, 2005). As a result, the mother experiences miscarriages. Likewise, the child may be born, but the chemicals in his or her bloodstream may have effects on their body.
Stakeholders/change agents
The pregnant mothers have a large role to play in the lives, which will enhance their well-being. The health care providers will be required to follow up pregnant women in the region, even if it will require having the door to door monitoring. The idea will be to make sure that women are not involved in any work that contains use of chemical.
Feasibility
Evidence supports that chemicals exposes risks to the health of the pregnant mother and child. However, poor financial conditions mean that most women will still work in any conditions, which will be followed up by less pre-natal visits, putting the life of the unborn child and mother at risk.
Apply the evidence
Healthcare providers should screen and follow up on pregnant women to ensure that they are not working in chemical conditions. The health care providers should also advice women on the months when they should stop working completely.
References
Doweiko, H. E. (2012). Concepts of chemical dependency. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Timbrell, J. (2005). The Poison Paradox: Chemicals as Friends and Foes. Oxford: OUP Oxford.
