Smoking during pregnancy is not good for the baby is a proven fact. Foreseeing the risks, pregnant women or those who are planning to become pregnant are advised to abstain from smoking. However, nearly 14 percent of women continue smoking even after confirmation of pregnancy.
Adding to the long list of risks of smoking during pregnancy, a new study says exposure to nicotine, either active or passive smoking, while in the mother's womb badly impacts the physiological, sensory, motor and attention responses of a newborn.
Researchers from the Behavior Evaluation and Measurement Research Centre (CRAMC) of the Rovira i Virgili University analyzed the hidden risks associated with maternal smoking or passive smoking during pregnancy.
For the examination, Josefa Canals and Carmen Hernández, the lead authors of the study, included 282 healthy newborns.
Researchers recorded the mother's smoking habits. Of the total number of participants, 22 percent smoked during pregnancy - with the number of cigarettes ranging from one to 15 per day. A minority of mothers (six percent) were exposed to passive smoking.
A tool, Neonatal Behavioral Evaluation Scale, was used to build a behavioral profile of the babies between 48 and 72 hours after birth.
Results showed that babies exposure before birth to nicotine affected their ability to inhibit stimuli that could change the central nervous system.
Apart from that, they also found babies born to women who reported passive smoking having poor motor development, and smoking during pregnancy reducing the baby's ability to control behavior and response.
"Newborns, who have had intrauterine exposure to nicotine, whether in an active or passive way, show signs of being more affected in terms of their neurobehavioral development. This could be an indicator of pathologies, independently of socio-demographic, obstetric and pediatric factors," Canals and Hernández explained to SINC.
According to the researchers, the nicotine concentrations of the fetus in the smoking mothers will be 15 percent high.
"Health professionals should encourage future mothers and their families to eliminate or reduce tobacco consumption," explained Canals.
Results of the study have been published in the Early Human Development.
