Table 1.
Characteristics of firefighters at 2017 survey with at least one pregnancy, by employment and wildland statusa
| Employment status | Wildland firefighter status | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volunteer n = 157 |
Career n = 917 |
Structural n = 709 |
Wildland/WUI n = 363 |
n = 1074 | |
| Demographics in 2017 | |||||
| Median (IQR) | |||||
| Age at survey (years) | 37 (31–46) | 38 (34–45) | 41 (35–47) | 34 (34–39) | 38 (34–45) |
| Total pregnanciesb | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 1 (1–2) | 2 (1–3) |
| Total livebirths | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) | 2 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) |
| N (%) | |||||
| Race, white | 148 (95) | 845 (93) | 643 (92) | 349 (96) | 993 (93) |
| Hispanic ethnicity | < 5 | 51 (6) | 44 (6) | 10 (3) | 55 (5) |
| BMI | |||||
| ≤ 24.9 kg/m2 | 48 (31) | 479 (52) | 254 (36) | 272 (75) | 527 (49) |
| 25–29.9 kg/m2 | 51 (32) | 295 (32) | 287 (40) | 58 (16) | 346 (32) |
| ≥ 30 kg/m2 | 58 (37) | 143 (16) | 168 (24) | 33 (9) | 201 (19) |
| Highest completed education | |||||
| Some college or less | 102 (65) | 538 (59) | 370 (52) | 269 (74) | 640 (60) |
| College and above | 55 (35) | 379 (41) | 339 (48) | 94 (26) | 434 (40) |
| Marital status | |||||
| Married or in partnership | 107 (68) | 721 (79) | 515 (73) | 312 (86) | 828 (77) |
| Household income | |||||
| > $75,000 | 77 (49) | 601 (66) | 570 (81) | 107 (29) | 678 (63) |
| ≤ $75,00 | 79 (51) | 315 (34) | 137 (19) | 256 (71) | 394 (37) |
| Smoking status | |||||
| Current | 22 (14) | 30 (3) | 41 (6) | 11 (3) | 55 (5) |
| Former | 47 (30) | 155 (17) | 165 (23) | 37 (10) | 202 (19) |
| Never | 88 (56) | 732 (80) | 503 (71) | 319 (87) | 820 (76) |
| History of miscarriage | 70 (45) | 261 (28) | 279 (39) | 51 (14) | 331 (31) |
| History of pre-term birth | 135 (15) | 36 (23) | 136 (19) | 34 (9) | 171 (16) |
| Menopause status | |||||
| Premenopausal | 103 (71) | 693 (78) | 494 (72) | 302 (86) | 796 (77) |
| Perimenopausal | 17 (12) | 91 (10) | 85 (12) | 22 (6) | 108 (10) |
| Postmenopausal | 25 (17) | 109 (12) | 105 (15) | 28 (8) | 134 (13) |
| Occupational factors in 2017 | |||||
| Median (IQR) | |||||
| Years since most recent pregnancy in fire service | 8 (3–14) | 5 (2–12) | 8 (3–14) | 2 (2–8) | 6 (2–13) |
| N (%) | |||||
| Employment status | |||||
| Volunteer | – | – | 118 (17) | 39 (11) | 157 (15) |
| Career | – | – | 591 (83) | 324 (89) | 917 (85) |
| Wildland fire activity | |||||
| No (structural) | 118 (75) | 591 (65) | 709 (100) | – | 709 (66) |
| Yes (wildland only) | < 5 | 22 (2) | – | 26 (7) | 26 (2) |
| Yes (WUI) | 35 (22) | 302 (33) | – | 337 (93) | 337 (31) |
| Current rank | |||||
| Firefighter | 75 (48) | 328 (36) | 160 (23) | 242 (67) | 403 (38) |
| Firefighter/paramedic | 30 (19) | 225 (25) | 212 (30) | 43 (12) | 255 (24) |
| Driver operator | 7 (5) | 77 (8) | 66 (9) | 18 (5) | 84 (8) |
| Lieutenant | 10 (6) | 89 (10) | 82 (12) | 16 (4) | 99 (9) |
| Captain | 8 (5) | 95 (10) | 76 (11) | 27 (7) | 103 (10) |
| Chief | 14 (9) | 74 (8) | 77 (11) | 11 (3) | 88 (8) |
| Paramedic | 5 (3) | 5 (1) | 10 (1) | 0 (0) | 10 (1) |
| Other | 8 (5) | 23 (3) | 26 (4) | 5 (1) | 31 (3) |
| Shift schedule (career only) | |||||
| 24 h or more on shift | – | 735 (80) | 444 (76) | 290 (90) | 735 (80) |
| Less than 24 h on shift | – | 179 (20) | 144 (24) | 34 (10) | 179 (20) |
| Department policy regarding pregnancy and/or maternity | |||||
| Yes | 57 (36) | 712 (78) | 461 (65) | 306 (84) | 769 (72) |
| No | 72 (46) | 173 (19) | 204 (29) | 41 (11) | 245 (23) |
| Don’t know | 28 (18) | 32 (3) | 44 (6) | 16 (4) | 60 (6) |
IQR interquartile range, BMI Body mass index (kg/m2), WUI wildland urban interface
Responses may not sum to totals due to missing responses not shown here. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding
a All data were collected at time of survey in 2017. Unless otherwise noted, variable is self-reported in 2017
b Includes pregnancies that resulted in either livebirth, miscarriage, stillbirth, or pregnancy termination