Why Pregnant Women should NOT Smoke

Smoking is such a well-known hazard to the mother that it only follows that it is also harmful to the baby. Yet hundreds of thousands of pregnant women still smoke. Second-hand smoke from smokers who live or work with pregnant women can also affect the foetus. Exposure to smoke can result in spontaneous abortion, preterm births, low-weight full-term babies, deformities and birth defects, and foetal and infant deaths.

* * *

A new review paper by University of Nottingham researchers found that secondhand smoke exposure increased the risk of stillbirth by 23 percent in nonsmoking pregnant women, compared with women who were not exposed to smoke at work or at home. Passive smoking also increased the risk of congenital birth defects by 13 percent. The authors noted that the baby’s father was the source of secondhand smoke exposure in five of the nineteen studies: “These results highlight the importance for smoking prevention and cessation to focus on the father in addition to the mother during the preconception period as well as during pregnancy.” Study author Jo Leonardi-Bee said in a press statement that further research is needed to determine whether paternal smoking affects pregnancy through the sidestream smoke that the mother inhales, or whether the father’s smoking affects his sperm development, or both. Source: http://www.healthland.time.com/2011/03/14/study-secondhand-smoke-increases-riskofstillbirth- birth-defects/

* * *

It’s not healthy to smoke during pregnancy but an estimated 12% to 24% of pregnant women continue to use tobacco, according to national data [PDF]. So if the existing evidence hasn’t convinced them to quit, perhaps this new study will: a researcher from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine reports that fetal exposure to nicotine may be associated with increased blood pressure among children once they grow up.

Granted, the study measured nicotine’s effects on rat fetuses rather than developing humans. But if the association holds up in people, we should be concerned about the hearts of babies born to smoking mothers.

Previous studies in humans has shown that children born to smoking mothers have suffer from damage to their vascular, or blood-vessel system, but it’s impossible to prove the correlation given confounding factors. So DaLiao Xiao, assistant research professor of basic sciences at Loma Linda set out to test the association in rats. In an experiment, he gave 12 pregnant rats a daily dose of intravenous nicotine and 13 different pregnant rats a saline placebo. He then monitored their offspring for up to five months for signs of heart damage or other circulation problems. At five months, the offspring of the rats who were given nicotine had two classic signs of heightened heart risk: increased oxidative stress and hypertension.

While we can’t extrapolate that people react the same way as rats — and we can’t extrapolate that a nicotine injection perfectly mirrors the real-world delivery of nicotine through smoking, nicotine gums or patches — the research does highlight how maternal smoking may lead to poor cardiovascular outcomes for children. Lighting up doesn’t just affect the mother-to-be, but those cigarettes could leave a lasting health legacy on her kids as well.

Meredith Melnick is a reporter at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @MeredithCM. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/07/21/why-pregnant-women-shouldnt-smoke/#ixzz1XHJtTWZj

* * *

Also:

Honein MA, Paulozzi LJ et al.“Family History, Maternal Smoking and Clubfoot: An Indication of a Gene-Environment Interaction.” American Journal of Epidemiology. 2000; 152(7): 658–665.

Wisborg K, Henriksen TB et al. “Smoking during pregnancy and hospitalization of the child.” Pediatrics (online version). (Oct. 1999); 104(4):e46. www.toyourhealth.com/mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=555.

Chung KC, Kowalski CP et al. “Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and the risk of having a child with a cleft lip/palate.” Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 2000; 105: 485–491. Source:  www.toyourhealth.com/mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=557.mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=557.

Man LX, Chang B. “Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of having a child with a congenital digital anomaly.” Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. (January 2006);117(1): 301–308. Source: www.toyourhealth.com/mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=576