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Collaborative Guides Supporting Firefighting Health & Wellness

OB/GYN
Guide.

The OB/GYN Health Resource Guide for Firefighters. Firefighters are required to work in extreme conditions that may impact their health. This two-page guide gives OB/GYNs considerations for making decisions about clearance for duty.

Cover of the OB/GYN Health Resource Guide for FirefightersOB/GYN guide (PDF)

Built for the clearance conversation.

The guide starts with the essential job tasks a firefighter must perform, then walks through the research on pregnancy outcomes, fertility, breastmilk, child health and cancer.

Download the guide > References (PDF) >

From First Responder Center for Excellence, International Association of Fire Chiefs, IAFC Safety, Health and Survival Section, International Association of Fire Fighters, National Volunteer Fire Council, Women in Fire and the Center for Fire, Rescue & EMS Health Research.

What the guide covers.

  • Job demands

    The 14 essential job tasks set by the NFPA, from wearing PPE and SCBA to working in shifts.

  • Pregnancy outcomes

    Research on miscarriage, preterm labor, and labor and delivery complications.

  • Risks by trimester

    Trauma, chemical and other risks in each trimester and during lactation, adapted from NFPA 1582.

  • Fertility

    What emerging research suggests about gynecologic health and fertility.

  • Breastmilk & child health

    Findings on chemicals in breastmilk after fires and on child health outcomes.

  • Cancer

    Firefighting's classification as a carcinogen and what the evidence suggests for women firefighters.

References.

OB/GYN guide references (9)
  1. Jung AM, Jahnke SA, Dennis LK, et al. Occupational factors and miscarriages in the US fire service: a cross-sectional analysis of women firefighters. Environ Health. 2021;20(1):116.
  2. Jahnke SA, Poston WSC, Jitnarin N, Haddock CK. Maternal and child health among female firefighters in the U.S. Matern Child Health J. 2018;22(6):922-931.
  3. Jung AM, Jahnke SA, Dennis LK, Bell ML, Burgess JL, Farland LV. Firefighter occupational factors and the risk of preterm birth: results from a survey of women firefighters in the USA. Occup Environ Med. 2023;80(2):77-85.
  4. Davidson S, Jahnke S, Jung AM, et al. Anti-Müllerian hormone levels among female firefighters. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(10):5981.
  5. Petersen KU, Hansen J, Ebbehoej NE, Bonde JP. Infertility in a cohort of male Danish firefighters: a register-based study. Am J Epidemiol. 2019;188(2):339-346.
  6. Park J, Ahn YS, Kim MG. Pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium outcomes in female firefighters in Korea. Ann Occup Environ Med. 2020;32:e8.
  7. Jung AM, Beitel SC, Gutenkunst SL, et al. Excretion of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and AhR activation in breastmilk among firefighters. Toxicol Sci. 2023;192(2):223-232.
  8. Siegel MR, Rocheleau CM, Hollerbach BS, et al. Birth defects associated with paternal firefighting in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Am J Ind Med. 2023;66(1):30-40.
  9. Demers PA, DeMarini DM, Fent KW, et al. Carcinogenicity of occupational exposure as a firefighter. Lancet Oncol. 2022;23(8):985-986.

More on this topic: reproductive health infographics you can print for the station.

One series, three audiences.

The Collaborative Guides Supporting Firefighting Health & Wellness give each person in the decision the guide written for them.

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