Passive Smoking Enhances Risks of Stillbirth and Birth Defects

A new study claims that pregnant women who are exposed to secondhand smoke either at home or their workplace, are at increased risks of having stillborn babies or those with birth defects.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham, led by Prof. Jo Leonardi-Bee of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies at the University, analyzed 19 previous studies that were undertaken at North America, South America, Asia, and Europe. The pregnant women who participated in the studies were non-smokers themselves, but were passive smokers, having partners at home o r colleagues at work who were smokers.

Analyzing the data, the researchers found that exposure to more than 10 cigarettes a day for pregnant women had increased the risks of stillbirth by 23% and risks of birth defects in the babies by 13%, while there was no increased risk of miscarriage or no death of the newborns. In 50% of the cases analyzed, fathers who smoked were mainly responsible for the women inhaling secondhand smoke.

Dr. Jo Leonardi-Bee observed, “Mothers’ smoking during pregnancy is well-recognized as carrying a range of serious health risks for the unborn baby including fetal mortality, low birth weight, premature birth and a range of serious birth defects such as cleft palate, club foot and heart problems. Since passive smoking involves exposure to the same range of tobacco toxins experienced by active smokers, albeit at lower levels, it is likely that coming into contact with second-hand smoke also increases the risk of some of all of these complications.”

The researchers also added that they did not know when the harm from the secondhand smoke begins, whether smoke inhaled by the father directly affected the sperms, or it possibly could be both the factors at work.

“More research is needed into this issue although we already know that smoking does have an impact on sperm development, so it is very important that men quit smoking before trying for a baby,” said Leonardi-Bee.