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SMOKING
AND PREGNANCY
Smoking
in pregnancy increases the risk of:
- Miscarriage.
- Reduced
birthweight.
- Babies
born to women who smoke are on average 200 grams (8 oz)
lighter than babies born to comparable non-smoking mothers.
- The
harmful effects of smoking in pregnancy are due mainly
to smoking in the second and third trimesters. Therefore,
if a woman stops smoking within the first 3 months of
pregnancy, her risk of having a low-weight baby will
be similar to that of a non-smoker.
- Complications
of pregnancy, including bleeding during pregnancy, detachment
of the placenta, premature rupture of the membranes, and ectopic
pregnancy.
- Congenital
defects in the baby - cleft palate.
- Perinatal
death (stillbirth or death within the first week of life) -
the risk is increased by about one-third.
- Poorer
long-term growth, development, and health of the baby:
- Reduced
height
- Lower
achievements in reading and mathematics up to 16 years
old
- Infantile
colic
- Asthma
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When
a pregnant mum breaths in cigarette smoke, so does her
baby. It can cause asthma, bronchitis and even cot death.
Produced
for the Department of Health @ Crown Copyright
Order No. 5080CM.
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There are increased risks in pregnancy when
the mother smokes. The risk of miscarriage is 27% higher in smokers.
Perinatal mortality
(defined as still-birth or death of an infant within the
first week of life) is increased by about one-third in babies
of
smokers. The risk of a low birth weight baby (200gramas 7oz)
is three
times higher. Furthermore, the more cigarettes a woman smokes
during pregnancy, the greater the probable reduction in birth
weight. Recent research suggests that cigarettes can reduce the
flow
of
blood in the placenta, which limits the amount of nutrients
that
reach the foetus. There is a 35% increase in cot deaths associated
with smoking in pregnancy. Maternal smoking is associated
with a higher risk of children’s cancers. Infants of parents
who smoke are twice as likely to suffer from serious respiratory
infection
as the children of non-smokers. Smoking during pregnancy
can also increase the risk of asthma in young children.
Maternal
smoking
in pregnancy has been associated with behaviour and attention
deficit disorders. Mothers who smoked more than ½ a
pack of cigarettes were significantly more likely to
have an offspring with conduct disorder. Substance abuse
is higher
among children
of mothers who smoked in pregnancy and also impaired
child-rearing behaviour. Smoking in pregnancy may also have
implications
for the long-term physical growth and intellectual development
of the
child. It has been associated with a reduced height in
children of smoking mothers as compared with non-smoking
mothers, with
lower attainments in reading and mathematics up to age
16
and even with
the highest qualification achieved by the age of 23.
On average, smokers have more complications of pregnancy and labour,
which can include bleeding during pregnancy, premature detachment
of the placenta and premature rupture of the membranes. Some studies
have also revealed a link between smoking and ectopic pregnancy
and congenital defects in the offspring of smokers. Women are more
likely to experience vomiting, urinary infections, thrush, to feel
unwell and have more hospital admissions. There is also evidence
that smoking interferes with women's hormonal balance during pregnancy
and that this may have long-term consequences on the reproductive
organs of her children.
References
Royal College of Physicians Smoking and the Young (London, 1992).
Werler MM, Pober BR, Holmes LB Smoking and pregnancy (Teratology
1985; 32: 473-81).
Larsen, L.G. et al. Stereologic examination of placentas from mothers
who smoke during pregnancy. Am J Obstet & Gynecol. 2002; 186:
531-537.
Anderson HR, Cook DG. Passive smoking and sudden infant death syndrome:
review of the epidemiological evidence (Thorax 1997; 52: 1003-9).
Lindsey Jarvis, Office for National Statistics. Smoking among secondary
school children in 1996: England (London: The Stationery Office,
1997).
Hecht SS, Carmella SG, Chen ML, Salzberger U, Tollner U, Lackmann
GM. Metabolites of the tobacco-specific lung carcinogen.
4-(methylnitrosoamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (nnk) in the urine
of newborn infants. Abstract Papers Am Chem. Soc 1998.
Gilliland, F.D. et al. Effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy
and environmental tobacco smoke on asthma and wheezing in children
(Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2001; 163(2): 429-436).
Landgren et al. (1998).
Wakschlag et al. (1997).
Fergusson et al. (1998).
Naeye RL, Tafari, N. Risk factors in pregnancy and diseases of
the newborn (Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins; 1983).
Fogelman, K.R. and Manor, O. British Medical Journal 1988 (297:
1233-1236).
Poswillo, D and Alberman, E. Effects of smoking on the foetus,
neonate, and child (OUP 1992).
Haddow, J.E. et al. Teratology (1993; 47: 225-228).
Golding, J. HEA Smoking and pregnancy conference (1994).
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