It is known that smoking during pregnancy increases a woman's risk of having a baby with a range of birth defects, including a premature birth and low birth weight.
Now, researchers claim the aforesaid effects on newborns can be reduced if a woman stops smoking before the 15th week of pregnancy.
"Pregnant women who smoke should be encouraged and assisted to become smoke-free early in pregnancy," says a new study published in the British Medical Journal on Friday.
Smoking during pregnancy is associated with a number of birth defects, including the risk of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, premature birth, small babies, stillbirth and neonatal death, but so far, no study has shown whether these risks can be reduced if a woman kicks the habit in early pregnancy.
The novel study, carried out by doctors in Australia and New Zealand, reveals for the first time the effect of giving up smoking on two potential problems pregnant women face, the risk of small babies and premature births.
To reach their findings, lead researcher Dr. Lesley McCowan, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and colleagues surveyed more than 2,500 pregnant women at the 15-week stage.
The women, who were taking part in the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) study at centers in Auckland and Adelaide, Australia, were divided into three groups: non-smokers (80% or 1,992 of the total), current smokers (10% or 251 women) and stopped smokers (10% or 261 women). The women falling into the “stopped smokers” category were those who said they gave up before reaching week 15.
After studying the smoking habits of women during pregnancy and surveying the outcome at birth, McCowan and team found that there was no difference between non-smokers and those who had stopped smoking by the 15th week of pregnancy. Four per cent of women in each group gave birth prematurely and 10% had small-for-gestational-age babies.
Compared with those who had quit and nonsmokers, women in the current smokers category had much higher rates of preterm birth and small-for-gestational-age infants. One in 10 of the women who continued to smoke had babies who were born ahead of term, and 17 percent of their infants were born with low birth weight.
"In women who stopped smoking before 15 weeks' gestation, rates of spontaneous pre-term birth and small-for-gestational-age infants did not differ from those in non-smokers, indicating that these severe adverse effects of smoking may be reversible if smoking is stopped early in pregnancy," said McCowan.
She suggested pregnant women should be warned of the risks of smoking and encouraged to kick off the habit as soon as possible during a pregnancy.
Post new comment