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No Amount of Smoking Is Safe During Any Stage of Pregnancy, Study Finds
Euronews ^ | 21/08/2024 | Gabriela Galvin

Posted on 09/16/2024 1:49:11 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Light smoking is also tied to poor birth outcomes, even if the mother quits during pregnancy.

Smoking even one or two cigarettes a day before or during pregnancy can lead to serious health problems for newborns, according to a new analysis of more than 12 million families.

Globally, an estimated 1.7 per cent of pregnant women smoke, though that rate is 8.1 per cent in Europe and 5.9 per cent in the Americas. Smoking during pregnancy can negatively affect the newborn’s health, increasing their risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, restricted infant growth, and death.

In the study, which was published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, researchers analysed the relationship between smoking and major neonatal health complications such as needing assisted ventilation immediately after birth, being admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) with ventilation, suspected sepsis, seizures, or neurological dysfunction.

Overall, about 9.5 per cent of babies experienced these issues. But they were 27 per cent more likely to have several of these complications if their mother smoked before pregnancy, and 31 per cent more likely if she smoked at any point during pregnancy, researchers found.

While researchers have long known about the poor outcomes tied to smoking during pregnancy, the new study indicates that even light smoking is unsafe, including in the months before pregnancy.

"Any smoking at all during pregnancy has an impact on infant outcomes," Caitlin Notley, who leads the addiction research group at the University of East Anglia in England, told Euronews Health. She was not involved with the study.

The analysis included nearly 12.2 million mother-infant pairs in the US, and found that the health risks held up even after researchers adjusted for other factors, such as age, ethnicity, and weight. Women with high blood pressure or diabetes were not included in the study.

Among the mothers in the study, 9.3 per cent smoked before pregnancy, while 7 per cent smoked in the first trimester, 6 per cent smoked in the second trimester, and 5.7 per cent smoked in the third trimester.

'Cutting down isn’t enough'

Neonatal outcomes were worse among those who smoked later into their pregnancies, the study found, but women who stopped smoking during pregnancy were still at a higher risk of poor neonatal outcomes compared with those who didn’t smoke at all.

Risks were also higher for heavy smokers. The children of women who smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day were 29 per cent more likely to be admitted to intensive care, the study found.

Yet those who smoked only one or two cigarettes per day still saw a 13 per cent higher risk of NICU admission.

"It's quite clear that cutting down, particularly during pregnancy, isn't enough," Notley said, emphasising the need for "complete cessation" of smoking to protect infant health.

Scientists discover smoking has a harmful impact on the immune system even years after quitting Pregnant women may find it harder to quit smoking because nicotine metabolism speeds up during pregnancy, meaning the body absorbs it more quickly, Notley said.

She said pregnant women trying to quit can try nicotine replacement therapies, such as nicotine gum, and opt for a higher dose if they find themselves still turning to cigarettes.

They can also try replacing traditional cigarettes with e-cigarettes, which may contain nicotine but no tobacco. Research is mixed on the effects of vaping on pregnancy outcomes.

"It's a harm reduction approach of doing anything you can, basically, to support women to quit smoking," Notley said.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; Science
KEYWORDS: 00000001bs; pregnancy; science; smoking; tcoyh
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To: llevrok

My Mom and Dad smoked in the house, my mom had 7 children, we are all healthy. One sister was born on the small side, 7lbs 15 oz. The youngest had asthma at a young age. Mom and dad died of smoking related things, but they reached their late 70’s. As far as I am concerned, not much good happens after 79. Nursing home, alzheimers, watching people die... Nah, I’d rather live a shorter life with the hassle of do gooders... BTW, I smoked and quit years ago. It sure burned my britches though not allowing smoking in bars and clubs, or the BOWLING ALLEY? Come one, now people go to Injun casinos and smoke instead. Destroying white mens social clubs is what they did.


21 posted on 09/16/2024 2:25:55 PM PDT by Glad2bnuts (“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: We should have set up ambushes...paraphrased)
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To: Glad2bnuts

“Smoking takes ten years off your life. Well it’s the ten worst years, isn’t it folks? It’s the ones at the end! It’s the wheelchair, kidney dialysis, adult diaper years. You can have those years! We don’t want ‘em, alright?” - Dennis Leary


22 posted on 09/16/2024 2:27:25 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: llevrok

There was a scene on a TV show depicting the early ‘60s, Mad Men, I think, in which the OB-GYN’s waiting room, well stock with ashtrays, is filled with pregnant mommies puffing away. I remember my mom was watching the show, and I said, “Oh, that looks exaggerated.” And I still think it probably was exaggerated to some extent, but my mom was like, “No, no, that’s pretty much how it was.” Maybe fetuses were tougher in those days.


23 posted on 09/16/2024 2:28:04 PM PDT by irishjuggler
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To: irishjuggler

There were many cigarette ads proclaiming that doctors preferred a certain brand.


24 posted on 09/16/2024 2:29:04 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: nickcarraway

POT?

Vap?


25 posted on 09/16/2024 2:38:37 PM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again," )
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To: Glad2bnuts

Without the interference with do gooders.


26 posted on 09/16/2024 2:39:19 PM PDT by Glad2bnuts (“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: We should have set up ambushes...paraphrased)
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To: dfwgator

Yes, my dads kidneys failed a week short of his 79th birthday, and died days later. They blamed it on cigarettes, which he quit when he turned 70.


27 posted on 09/16/2024 2:40:47 PM PDT by Glad2bnuts (“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: We should have set up ambushes...paraphrased)
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To: irishjuggler

No, most women didn’t smoke while pregnant in my observation. My wife smoked, but quit while pregnant. Took it back up after nursing was over.


28 posted on 09/16/2024 2:42:28 PM PDT by Glad2bnuts (“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: We should have set up ambushes...paraphrased)
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To: monkeyshine

In 1946, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company ran a Camel cigarette ad campaign with the slogan, “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette”.

Of course they had no way of knowing the dangers back then.....but wow.

As far as being addictive, in the early 2000s I came to work at 6:30 one morning, with the wind blowing 20 knots or so and with the wind chill it was 13 degrees.

Walking between two buildings freezing my butt off I encountered at least 4 or 5 people tucked into recesses in an attempt to shelter from the wind.....all were smoking.

I realized at that point if people needed to smoke that bad the addiction must be terrible.


29 posted on 09/16/2024 2:47:16 PM PDT by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
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To: dfwgator

Someone should have told Leary that it doesn’t cut those last 10 off, just moves ‘em up.


30 posted on 09/16/2024 2:49:50 PM PDT by larrytown (A Cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Then they graduate...)
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To: nickcarraway

You might think that the coughing and brown phlegm might have been a sign?


31 posted on 09/16/2024 3:12:58 PM PDT by monkeyshine (live and let live is dead)
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To: ConservativeMind

Not thinking that pregnancy is in my future. I’ve got an outie.


32 posted on 09/16/2024 3:24:40 PM PDT by foundedonpurpose (Praise Hashem, for his restoration of all things! )
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To: nickcarraway; All

My favorite line from Roseanne: “I quit smokin’ and drinkin’ for FOUR WHOLE MONTHS when I was pregnant with you!”

Never smoked. Never had a baby and never used to drink...until 2008. What happened back THEN, I wonder?

*SMIRK*


33 posted on 09/16/2024 3:24:46 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: JSM_Liberty

Hard to believe we survived the 60’s and 70’s.


34 posted on 09/16/2024 3:28:23 PM PDT by napscoordinator (DeSantis is a beast! Florida is the freest state in the country! )
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To: irishjuggler

I had my 3 children in the early 70’s. When I was pregnant with my first I told the OBGYN that I smoked and he said “no problem but watch your weight”. I weighed about 120lbs. My daughter weighed 9lb.5oz. One year later my next baby was 9lbs9oz and my next one was 9lbs9oz. I had quit halfway through that pregnancy and never went back. Back then doctors were weight nazis , not very concerned about cigarettes.


35 posted on 09/16/2024 3:36:11 PM PDT by surrey
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To: V_TWIN; All

That used to p*ss me off to no end when I was in the military. ‘Smoke Break!’ Losers who smoked got a good 15-20 minutes OUT OF EACH HOUR OF WORK to friggin’ SMOKE!

I kept a book in my desk. When they all went on ‘break’ so did I!

Actually, I couldn’t stand ‘not working’ while I was being paid by The American Taxpayer. I was glad to have them out of the office (the ‘Boss,’ too!) for some peace and quiet. P*ss-poor leadership skills, if you ask me. ;)

I, too, grew up sleeping under card tables while the parents and other relatives smoked and played cards well into the night, above me. That’s the way things were until we all knew better. You’d probably get arrested now for the childhoods some of us actually lived! :)


36 posted on 09/16/2024 3:37:08 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: surrey
Back then doctors were weight nazis , not very concerned about cigarettes.

They were very concerned about husbands. Wanted to make sure the wives didn't gain too much weight.

37 posted on 09/16/2024 3:40:46 PM PDT by ladyjane
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To: monkeyshine

“Nicotine is addictive. “

People say that and three years ago or so Harvard tried to show it but they couldn’t. In the usual double blind they pumped nicotine into people and when they cut it off there was zero withdrawal and the nicotine group and the placebo group were indistinguishable. Smoking is addictive as hell but nicotine may not be the culprit.


38 posted on 09/16/2024 3:42:03 PM PDT by TalBlack (Fight Fight Fight America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKOJdMog6T0)
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To: irishjuggler

It was not exaggerated.


39 posted on 09/16/2024 3:49:35 PM PDT by TalBlack (Fight Fight Fight America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKOJdMog6T0)
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To: TalBlack

“Smoking is addictive as hell but nicotine may not be the culprit.”

Well what about all these teens who seem to be hooked on nicotine “vapes”? As I understand it, a good portion of these vape products use synthesized nicotine that was never part of any tobacco plant.


40 posted on 09/16/2024 3:49:51 PM PDT by irishjuggler
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