Sources: BBC Health; Journal Human Reproduction; US Department of Health & Human Services
New Research from the UK suggests that women who smoke while pregnant are increasing the chance their baby will be born malformed. The risk for having a baby with missing or deformed limbs or a cleft lip is over 25% higher for smokers.
In England and Wales 17% of women smoke during pregnancy. That number is higher in the US. For women under 20, the figure is 45%. While most mothers will have a healthy baby, smoking can cause considerable damage to the unborn child.
Each year several hundred babies are born with a physical defect directly caused by their mother’s smoking. “Pregnant smokers will be shocked to learn that their nicotine habit could cause eye or limb deformities in their baby,” says Amanda Sandford of Action on Smoking and Health. The chance of a baby being born with missing or deformed limbs is 26% higher, and cleft lip or palate is 28% more likely.
Similarly, the risk of clubfoot 28% greater, and gastrointestinal defects 27% more. Skull defects are 33% more likely, and eye defects 25% more common. The greatest increase in risk – of 50% – was for a condition called gastroschisis (parts of the stomach or intestines protrude through the skin).
Professor Allan Hackshaw, who led the research, believes that, “Women should quit smoking before becoming pregnant, or very early on, to reduce the risks.” Statistics from the US show that only 18% to 25% of all women quit smoking once they become pregnant. Professor Hackshaw adds the risk was likely dose-related – or the more a woman smokes, the greater the risk to her unborn child.
All of the research suggests that If you are pregnant or are trying to conceive, the best thing you can do is limit or stop your smoking entirely.
Post: David M. Schwadron, Esquire