A recent study conducted by a team at the University of California, Irvine, found that women living within 1.9 miles of a major roadway in Los Angeles are 128% more at risk of giving birth prematurely.

The same study found that these women were also 33 to 42 percent more likely to develop preeclampsia -- a condition characterized by high blood pressure and can cause doctors to induce premature labor in order to save the mother’s life.

Unfortunately for many mothers-to-be, picking up and moving to avoid the affects of smog are not exactly an option.

For the individuals who are stuck in the big city, doctors recommend the women who live near major freeways close the windows at home, or while driving keep windows closed and use air conditioning to filter the dirty air coming into the car. One of the easier ways is to limit your driving overall and avoid rush-hour times on the roads.

Although these suggestions will help, clearly there is an overlying issue that must be tackled on a greater scale…we have got to keep working to drastically reduce smog in our cities!

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