The first thing most obstetricians tell pregnant patients about water is to drink more of it. Eight to ten glasses a day. Stay hydrated. It's good for you and for the baby.
What almost no OB in Connecticut discusses is what's actually in that water. Or whether the water situation in the patient's own town is worth acting on before the next glass.
That's not a knock on obstetricians. Water quality isn't their field. It does mean pregnant women in Connecticut are deciding about their water with incomplete information, and sometimes those gaps matter.
PFAS and Pregnancy
PFAS compounds cross the placenta, the organ that filters what reaches your baby. Peer-reviewed research has found PFAS in umbilical cord blood, in breast milk, and in the blood of newborns whose mothers had elevated PFAS exposure during pregnancy.
The health effects of prenatal PFAS exposure that have been documented in research include:
- Reduced birth weight
- Altered immune system development (reduced vaccine response in infants)
- Thyroid hormone disruption in newborns
- Altered metabolic programming that may increase obesity risk in childhood
A 2020 study in Environmental Health Perspectives found that prenatal PFAS exposure was associated with reduced birth weight and altered thyroid function in newborns. A 2019 study in JAMA Pediatrics found that higher prenatal PFAS exposure was associated with reduced antibody response to childhood vaccines.
For pregnant women in Fairfield County on Aquarion's water system, these are not abstract risks. Aquarion has documented PFAS in its groundwater-dependent supply. The compliance deadline is 2029; 2031 is only a proposed, requestable extension. The pregnancy is now.
How Does Lead Affect Fetal Brain Development?
Lead crosses the placenta too. There is no safe level of lead exposure for the developing fetal brain. Lead exposure during pregnancy is associated with reduced fetal birth weight, preterm birth, and, most seriously, permanent damage to the child's brain and nervous system.
The CDC's reference level for blood lead in children is 3.5 micrograms per deciliter. It was lowered from 5 mcg/dL in 2021 because research kept showing harm at levels once considered fine. That's been the pattern for decades: the "safe" threshold keeps dropping, and some researchers argue there isn't one at all.
For pregnant women in Waterbury, Bridgeport, Hartford, and other Connecticut cities with suspected lead service lines, the risk is specific and fixable. An NSF/ANSI 53 certified filter at the kitchen tap cuts lead to well below the EPA action level. It costs $30 to $150. Given what's at stake, that's a small bill.
Can Nitrates in Well Water Harm Your Baby?
The federal limit for nitrates in drinking water is 10 mg/L. That number exists to protect infants from methemoglobinemia, sometimes called blue baby syndrome, where nitrates block the blood's ability to carry oxygen. The same mechanism can reach a fetus.
Research has also linked maternal nitrate exposure during pregnancy to a higher risk of neural tube defects, limb defects, and other birth defects. A 2010 study in Epidemiology found that drinking nitrate-contaminated well water during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of certain birth defects. Associated, not proven to cause.
If you're pregnant and on a private well in the Connecticut River Valley agricultural areas, meaning Windsor, Suffield, Enfield, or East Windsor, nitrate testing isn't optional. Last well test more than a year ago? Test again before your next trimester.
What Pregnant Connecticut Women Should Do
If you're on Aquarion's water in Fairfield County: Install a reverse osmosis system at your kitchen tap. It removes PFAS effectively. Do it before the third trimester at the latest, and ideally before you conceive.
If you're in a city with suspected lead service lines (Waterbury, Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven): Install an NSF/ANSI 53 certified filter at your kitchen tap. Run the tap for 30 seconds before filling the filter pitcher or using the filtered tap.
If you're on a private well in an agricultural area: Test for nitrates. Above 5 mg/L, which is half the federal limit, consider a reverse osmosis system for drinking and cooking water during pregnancy.
If you're on a private well anywhere in Connecticut: Test the full panel: bacteria, nitrates, lead, PFAS, radon, arsenic, uranium. It runs $200 to $500, and nothing else tells you what that test tells you.
Want ZIP-level context before deciding whether to test? Enter your ZIP code at CheckYourTap.com to see available public-system or regional monitoring records associated with the ZIP. This is not a test of a tap, well, or property. Free, in 30 seconds.
Your OB is not going to ask about your water. Ask yourself.
Keep Reading
- Fairfield County PFAS: Legal Is Not the Same as Safe
- Your Waterbury Water Is Soft. That's Actually Why You Should Worry About Lead.
- The Chemical Your Water Utility Uses to Keep You Safe Is Creating New Problems in the Process
Sources: Environmental Health Perspectives, prenatal PFAS and birth outcomes, 2020; JAMA Pediatrics, prenatal PFAS and vaccine response, 2019; Epidemiology, nitrates and birth defects, 2010; CDC Blood Lead Reference Value; EPA Lead and Copper Rule; CT DPH Private Well Testing.
