Smoking harms almost every part of your body. But if you smoke when pregnant, the toxic chemicals in tobacco will also harm your unborn baby, with new research showing that it could lead to reduced academic outcomes at school. The research is published in the journal Addictive Behaviors .
In a systematic review of 19 studies and 1.25 million participants, researchers at the University of South Australia along with a team at Curtin University, SAHMRI, Harvard University and others, found that 79% of studies reported reduced academic achievement in children exposed to maternal prenatal smoking. An additional meta-analysis of eight primary studies with 723,877 participants showed that children exposed to maternal prenatal tobacco smoking were 49% more likely to struggle with poor academic achievement , in comparison to those who had not been exposed to smoking in utero.
In Australia, 8.7% (or 26,433) of all mothers who gave birth in 2021 smoked at some time during their pregnancy. Lead researcher, UniSA's Dr.
Bereket Duko, says that despite what is already known about smoking, research is still uncovering additional negative effects. "For decades, agencies across the globe have pushed anti-smoking campaigns about the dangers of smoking. But despite these efforts, tobacco smoking remains a pervasive global public health issue," Dr.
Bereket says. "Prenatal smoking is known to cause multiple pregnancy complications, including a higher risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, restricted gro.