Effect of Magnetic Fields during Pregnancy on Fetal Growth and Preterm Labor: A Review Article

Background Low birth weight is one of the most important health indicators in evaluating pregnancy care worldwide. We aimed to evaluate the effect of cell phones used in pregnancy on fetal growth and preterm labor. Materials and Methods The search process included screening the relevant articles on electronic databases of Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Medline to analyze the association of maternal exposure to magnetic fields with fetal growth, birth weight, small-for-gestational-age (SGA), and preterm labor. Results In the first study, the duration of pregnancy was shorter for mothers using cell phones for more than one hour per day than those use shorter than one hour. In the second study, the intermediate use of cell phones by mothers indicated an increased risk of preterm birth. In the third study, the birth weight were lower in excessive cell phone users than normal status. In the fourth study, low, medium, and high cell phone exposure during the six months before conception had no effect on low birth weight, preterm birth, and SGA.In the fifth study, a negative correlation was observed between magnetic fields expose during pregnancy and the birth week, birth weight, and birth length of the newborn. In the sixth study, the risk of low birth weight, preterm birth, and SGA was close to null. In the seventh study, dental radiography during pregnancy was associated with low birth weight, specifically with term low birth weight. Conclusion In general, there are contradictory findings on the impact of cell phone exposure during pregnancy. These results should be interpreted with caution because of the small sample size and recall bias.