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A recent study comes as a relief for expecting mothers, informing them they can keep using mobile phones without putting their unborn babies at risk. The research found proof that exposing a fetus to electromagnetic radiation coming from mobile phones does not endanger the neurological development of the baby.
Mothers used to think mobile phones affected a child’s development
Many people are afraid that using a mobile phone while pregnant, and thus exposing the baby to radio frequency electromagnetic fields, might lead to the child suffering language impairment, defective motor skills, or affected neurodevelopment in general.
This concern is mainly caused by several experiments performed on animals, which returned negative results. However, these results are not consistent enough, and are not suitable to be extended to humans as well.
Researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health developed a study where they collected data from several Norwegian mothers and children, both during pregnancy and after the children were born. The study was published in the journal BMC Public Health.
These devices might even be good for babies
Researchers kept 45,389 mothers and their children under close observation. The mothers have to fill in some questionnaires during their pregnancy regarding how much they used a mobile phone. Then, after they gave birth, they were questioned regarding the cognitive and neurological development of their babies. The follow-up went on until the children reached the age of five.
At a certain point, researchers assumed mobile phone use during pregnancy might be beneficial for the baby. However, the evidence in favor of this assumption is quite limited, so they couldn’t reach a conclusion in the sense.
This happened mostly because the study was merely observational, so it couldn’t provide all the proof needed to assure mobile phones are good for babies. However, the results are consistent enough to show mothers these devices do not harm their children.
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