United States: Experts are concerned about the effects of even “light smoking’ which is defined to be one or two cigarettes a day – which could bring harm to pregnancy and lead to ‘major health problems’ for the newborn, according to recent research.
More about the study
While it is understood that pregnancy smoking increases the chances of preterm delivery, low birth weight, restricted fetal growth, and other complications, about 5 percent of pregnant women in the US confess to smoking, as the New York Post reported.
Chinese researchers sought to figure out the timing and exposure of newborns to cigarettes and how exposure correlates.
How was the study conducted?
They analyzed 12.1 million births in the United States in the years 2016 to 19.
Cigarette use was self-reported by the mothers at one point before pregnancy and during the first, second, and third trimester of pregnancy.
In particular, if a mother smoked just before pregnancy, her newborn’s risk of developing more than one major health problem was 27 percent higher.
If, during pregnancy, she smoked, then the risk was increased from 31 to 32 percent, as the New York Post reported.
Health concerns about babies
Health concerns include baby gasping for breath and having to use a ventilator, intubation, ICU, a seizure, or other neurological problems.
The chance of such problems increased by 16 percent if a woman was smoking one or two cigarettes a day before pregnancy. The risk was 31 percent higher if the mother smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day.
The study outcomes were presented Tuesday in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
Findings produced by the study
The authors recognized that the data used did not distinguish participants who smoked at some time in the course of the previous three months prior to pregnancy and those who smoked continuously during that period.
In addition, there was no information on secondhand exposure to tobacco smoke.
However, the researchers mention that the “data suggest that there is no safe period and no safe level of cigarettes consumed shortly before or during pregnancy.”
Dr. Victor Klein, Northwell Health System director for quality and patient safety obstetrics and gynecology, recommended wearing a nicotine patch behavioral therapy before conceiving and understanding the various coping strategies in order to avoid smoking while pregnant.
Klein, who was not part of the research, said, “This is an important study with large numbers of pregnancies,” and, “One can conclude that smoking even small numbers [of cigarettes] is not safe during pregnancy. Stopping smoking prior to pregnancy is best for the safest pregnancy.”