title: N95 respirator use during advanced pregnancy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To determine the physiological and subjective effects of wearing an N95 filtering facepiece respirator (N95 FFR) in advanced stages of pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Healthy pregnant women (n = 22) and nonpregnant women (n = 22) had physiological and subjective measurements taken with and without wearing an N95 FFR during exercise and postural sedentary activities over a 1-hour period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no differences between the pregnant and nonpregnant women with respect to heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, transcutaneous carbon dioxide level, chest wall temperature, aural temperature, and subjective perceptions of exertion and thermal comfort. No significant effect on fetal heart rate was noted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Healthy pregnant women wearing an N95 FFR for 1 hour during exercise and sedentary activities did not exhibit any significant differences in measured physiological and subjective responses compared with nonpregnant women.
authors.affiliation: US National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pittsburgh, PA. Electronic address: dtn0@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Raymond J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Roberge
authors.affiliation: US National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pittsburgh, PA.
authors.forename: Jung-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: US National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pittsburgh, PA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Powell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008397:Masks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010829:Physiological Phenomena; D011247:Pregnancy; D057185:Sedentary Behavior
keywords: Fetal heart rate; Physiological response; Pregnancy; Respiratory protective equipment; Subjective response