Light smoking is also tied to poor birth outcomes, even if the mother quits during pregnancy. Smoking even one or two cigarettes a day before or during pregnancy can lead to serious health problems for newborns, according to a new analysis of more than 12 million families. Globally, an estimated , though that rate is 8.
1 per cent in Europe and 5.9 per cent in the Americas. Smoking during pregnancy can negatively affect the newborn’s health, increasing their risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, restricted infant growth, and death.
In the study, which was published in the , researchers analysed the relationship between smoking and major neonatal health complications such as needing assisted ventilation immediately after birth, being admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with ventilation, suspected sepsis, seizures, or neurological dysfunction. Overall, about 9.5 per cent of babies experienced these issues.
But they were 27 per cent more likely to have several of these complications if their mother smoked before pregnancy, and 31 per cent more likely if she smoked at any point during pregnancy, researchers found. While researchers have long known about the poor outcomes tied to smoking during pregnancy, the new study indicates that even light smoking is unsafe, including in the months before pregnancy. “Any smoking at all during pregnancy has an impact on infant outcomes,” Caitlin Notley, who leads the addiction research group at the University of East An.