Pregnancy, placentas and smoke exposure: multiple understandings of pregnant embodiment during the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires

Abstract

The health implications of prolonged wildfire smoke exposure - such as that seen during the 2019-2020 Australian bushfires - are a major concern in public health, not only in Australia but in many fire-prone areas globally. One group identified as potentially more susceptible to smoke exposure than the general population are pregnant women. Based on a study of how pregnant women and parents with newborn babies experienced the bushfire smoke event in Canberra and the NSW southeast coast, the paper examines how the placenta was figured across two domains during this time. The first domain considers how the placenta became prominent in the context of public and medical concerns about the immediate and long-term impacts of the bushfire smoke, focusing on pregnant women as a 'vulnerable' population. Secondly, we explore how the placenta figured in the narratives of women in our study: how they imagined their bodies responding to smoke exposure and how the smoke made more visible the interiority of their bodies. We argue that these narratives illustrate how environmental crises can reshape experiences of (pregnant) embodiment, imaginaries of future health, and our place in an increasingly uncertain world. Show more