The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of living near green spaces on three pregnancy outcomes, 1) the birth weight of infants born at term, 2) how many babies were born preterm, and 3) rates of preeclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy). The authors used a database of pregnancy records of 81,186 subjects from southern California to measure the outcomes, and satellite pictures and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index to estimate greenness around each woman's home.
The study found that women who lived in greener areas at the time of their child's birth were less likely to have premature babies and more likely to have babies with higher birth weights. The findings of this study linking greenness to birth weight are consistent with other current studies although some differences exist regarding at what distance greenness is significant. While this study found a link between greenness and risk of preterm birth, it found no link between levels of greenness and preeclampsia.
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