When Natural Disasters Darken Pregnancy Outcomes

To measure the perinatal impact of Hurricane Harvey, investigators at two hospitals in Houston assessed outcomes in 3842 women who delivered within 280 days after the hurricane's landfall compared with 25,000 women who delivered during the prior 6 years. Outcomes were defined as composite maternal morbidity (hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, chorioamnionitis, endometritis, blood transfusion, peripartum hysterectomy, maternal intensive care unit admission, pulmonary edema, or death) and composite neonatal morbidity (5-minute Apgar <3, respiratory distress syndrome, need for ventilator or continuous positive airway pressure, newborn sepsis, seizure, stillbirth, or death).

Risks for composite maternal and neonatal morbidity rose by 27% and 5…