How even just a few cigarettes before pregnancy can affect a newborn

Even “light smoking” – defined as just one or two cigarettes a day – can be a real drag on pregnancy, causing “major health problems” for the newborn, researchers warn in a new study.

Although smoking during pregnancy is known to increase the risk of premature birth, low birth weight, restricted fetal growth and other complications, about 5% of pregnant women in the US admit to smoking.

Scientists from China sought to understand whether the timing and intensity of smoking affects newborns.

They analyzed 12.1 million births in the US between 2016 and 2019. Mothers reported their smoking habits three months before pregnancy and during each of the three trimesters.

The researchers found that women who smoked tended to be younger, white, unmarried, obese and poorly educated, with more previous births and infrequent prenatal care.

If a mother smoked shortly before pregnancy, her newborn’s risk of having more than one major health problem was 27% higher. If she smoked during pregnancy, the risk was 31% to 32% higher.

Health problems include breathing difficulties in newborns requiring a ventilator, admission to intensive care, a seizure or serious neurological problems.

Smoking one or two cigarettes a day before pregnancy increases the risk of these problems by 16%. The risk was 31% higher if the mother smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day.

The study’s findings were published Tuesday in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

The authors acknowledged that the data did not distinguish between those who smoked at any time in the three months before pregnancy and those who smoked throughout that period. In addition, information about second-hand exposure to tobacco smoke was not available.

However, the researchers say that “the data suggest that there is no safe period and no safe level of cigarette smoking shortly before or during pregnancy.”

Dr. Victor Klein, Northwell Health System director of quality and patient safety, obstetrics and gynecology, recommends wearing a nicotine patch and undergoing behavioral therapy before becoming pregnant to learn coping strategies to avoid smoking. smoking or vaping during pregnancy.

He noted that smokers often underestimate the amount they inhale to health care providers and in surveys.

“This is an important study with a large number of pregnancies,” Klein, who was not involved in the research, told The Post. “One can conclude that smoking even in a small number [of cigarettes] it is not safe during pregnancy. Stopping smoking before pregnancy is best for the safest pregnancy.”