Smoking during pregnancy increases risk of broad range of infant infections
Maternal smoking is associated with both respiratory and non-respiratory infections in infants, resulting in increased risk for hospitalisation and death a new study suggests.
The study "Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy and Infant Infectious Disease Morbidity and Mortality," which was published earlier this year in the journal Pediatric Infectious Diseases, will be presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando.
Researchers reviewed hospitalisation records and death certificates of 50,000 infants born in the state of Washington between 1987 and 2004. The case-control study assessed infant hospitalisations and deaths due to respiratory and non-respiratory infectious disease.
The infants of mothers who smoked were 50 per cent more likely to be admitted to a hospital or die from any of a wide variety of infectious diseases than babies of mothers who did not smoke.
"We've known for a long time that babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy are at high risk for serious medical problems relating to low birth weight, premature delivery and poor lung development," said lead study author Dr Abigail Halperin. "While respiratory infections have been recognised as a common cause of these sometimes life-threatening illnesses, this study shows that babies exposed to smoke in utero also have increased risk for hospitalisation and death from a much broader range of infections—both respiratory and non-respiratory—than we knew before."
Findings Independent of Birth Weight and Gestational Age
The findings were largely independent of birth weight and gestational age meaning that even full-term babies with normal weight are at increased risk for hospitalisation or death from multiple types of infections if their mother smoked. The results of the study suggest that exposure to smoke during pregnancy harms infants' immune responses more generally, not just within the respiratory system.
“The study also found that when mothers cut back on their cigarette smoking or quit part way through their pregnancy, it seems to lower their child's risk of infection”, said Dr. Halperin. “Counselling pregnant women to reduce their smoking, if they are not able to quit completely, may help reduce infant hospitalisations or death.”
Senior Consultant Obstetrician Mr Ashok Kumar comments on new study into effects of smoking and pregnancy, “This new research, which highlights how children whose mothers smoke during pregnancy are at greater risk from a range of infectious diseases, shows just how important it is for mums-to-be to be encouraged and helped in every way possible to stop smoking. It is never too late to stop, no matter what stage the pregnancy.”
