Moms Smoke – Baby's Asthma
Native News Network Staff in Native Health. Discussion »
WASHINGTON – Women who smoke during pregnancy can cause health problems in children up to 17 years later. Children of smokers had a 50 percent increase in uncontrolled asthma.
Quit Before Becoming Pregnant
“Smoking during pregnancy only happens during the nine months. But we found the effects were still measureable eight to 17 years after the exposure,”
said Sam Oh of the University of the California at San Francisco, who studied minority women.
Oh suspects chemicals from smoking change something in the baby's genes in the womb. He says women who smoke should quit before they become pregnant.
The study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
The dangers of smoking during pregnancy include premature birth (being born too early), certain birth defects, and infant death.
- Smoking makes it harder for a woman to get pregnant.
- Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely than other women to have a miscarriage.
- Smoking can cause problems with the placenta - the source of the baby's food and oxygen during pregnancy. For example, the placenta can separate from the womb too early, causing bleeding, which is dangerous to the mother and baby.
- Smoking during pregnancy can cause a baby to be born too early or to have low birth weight - making it more likely the baby will be sick and have to stay in the hospital longer. A few babies may even die.
- Smoking during and after pregnancy is a risk factor of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, deaths among babies of no immediately obvious cause.
- Babies born to women who smoke are more likely to have certain birth defects, like a cleft lip or cleft palate.
posted July 25, 2012 6:50 am edt
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