Emergency Preparedness and Response: Pregnant Women and Newborns

The United States has averaged 58 major federally declared disasters annually in the past 15 years. In this time period, each state and U.S. territory has experienced a disaster. Nearly 850,000 people in the United States are affected by natural disaster yearly. However, that number does not include those affected by man-made events or pandemic diseases such as influenza.

Disasters disrupt people’s lives, families, and communities. Disasters can affect access to needed medical and social services, increase stress, intensify physical work, and expand caregiving duties. Any of these effects may result in poor health outcomes among women of reproductive age, especially pregnant women.

Pregnant women are classified as "at-risk individuals" in the 2006 Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. The needs of pregnant women are also stressed by Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) programs emergency preparedness and response activities in the Special Medical Needs: Definitions and Related Terms [PDF - 85KB].

Research studies conducted after disasters in the United States have shown that pregnant women may have increased medical risks such as blood pressure disorders or anemia. Also, their infants may experience health issues such as low birth weight, shorter length, preterm birth, or smaller head size. 

Recently, CDC began to build capacity to respond to all types of events and track their effects on women and infants. As CDC develops more resources and program activities for all hazard preparedness and response, they will be included for your use.

Public Health and Medical Professionals: Selected Activites

• CDC funded the University of North Carolina (UNC) Center for Public Health Preparedness at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health to develop the Reproductive Health Assessment After Disaster Toolkit (RHAD). The toolkit was designed to assist health departments with assessing the reproductive health needs of women aged 15–44 years affected by natural and man-made disasters. 
• Working with other CDC professionals, DRH created web resources that include Critical Needs in Caring for Pregnant Women during Times of Disaster for Non-Obstetric Health Care Providers.
• Through work with state health departments, CDC is working to expand disaster surveillance using the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) or PRAMS-like projects to collect disaster-specific data. PRAMS has been used to obtain information on women using specific services or recommendations during pregnancy. One example of this work is Seasonal Influenza and 2009 H1N1 Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among Pregnant Women—10 States, 2009–2010 Influenza Season. Source: MMWR 2010;59(47):1541–1545.