Air pollution and timing of childbirth: a retrospective survey analysis based on birth registration data of Chinese newborns

OBJECTIVES: Currently, there is a lack of research on whether people will take action to avoid the harm of air pollution and the heterogeneous behavior of different groups. The goal of this paper is to examine the effects of air pollution on the resulting differential effects on newborns and the timing of pregnancy. METHODS: Based on a survey of newborns in a total of 32 hospitals in 12 cities across China in 2011, and after matching with city-level air pollution data, a multiple regression statistical method is then used to examine how the pollution level in a certain period is related to the number of conceptions in that certain period, after controlling for region and season fixed effects. RESULTS: We first demonstrate that exposure to air pollution during pregnancy is associated with a significant increase in adverse birth outcomes. Most importantly, the empirical results show that the number of conceptions decreased significantly during periods of severe air pollution. CONCLUSION: Evidence suggests that air pollution may be causing some families to delay conception to reduce the possible adverse impact on neonatal outcomes. This helps us to understand the social cost of air pollution more, and then make more accurate environmental policies.