Smoking in pregnancy ups baby’s heart defects risk
Babies of mothers smoking during pregnancy are threatened by higher risk of congenital heart defects, new research has unveiled.
A team of researchers from Seattle Children's Hospital compared the records of 14,128 children born with heart defects between 1989 and 2011 with the records of over 62,000 children born during the same years without heart defects symptoms.
Analysis of the reports revealed that babies of smoking mothers were more likely to have a heart defect particularly of those ones who smoked during pregnancy.
The result also showed that the risk was at its highest point among the heaviest smoker mothers (smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day).
The risk will be even higher in women aged over 35, if they smoked, compared to non-smoking pregnant women.
"Ongoing cigarette use during pregnancy is a serious problem that increases the risk of many adverse outcomes in newborns,” said lead study author and clinical fellow in paediatric cardiology at Seattle Children's Hospital Dr Patrick Sullivan.
“It was not completely clear how smoking damages babies' hearts during pregnancy but it is thought to be related to restricted oxygen flow to the heart,” Sullivan explained.
Several researches have indicated the harmful effects of maternal smoking on the baby so far.
An earlier study had demonstrated a strong association between the mothers' smoking and the occurrence of the unwanted genetic change in baby girls than in boys.
Researchers also found that maternal smoking even during the first three months of pregnancy was associated with increased risks of wheeze and asthma in later years in kids, particularly when they reach preschool age.
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Source : Presstv
Smoking in pregnancy ups baby’s heart defects risk
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