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Smoking during pregnancy can lead to numerous birth defects
A research conducted by researchers from University College London reviews all the malformations that can occur while women smoke during pregnancy.
According to the study's reviews, in the United Kingdom alone, 45% of women smoke during pregnancy, whilst in the United States 20% of women aged less than 25 years, smoke during pregnancy and 9% aged over 35.
In order to complete this research, scientists examined approximately 170 research papers which analyzed up to 174.000 cases of babies with malformation occurred after smoking during pregnancy. In these papers were also analyzed up to 11 million check-ups in order to foresee any malformation.
The researchers came up with a percentage risk for each of the malformations, as follows: 28% risk for clubfoot, 33% skull defects, 28% cleft lip, 27% gastrointestinal defects and a very high risk of approximately 50% for gastroschisis, a condition characterized by having parts of the stomach or intestine pass through the skin.
Researchers recommend public authorities to make the general public more aware of the specific malformations that are associated with smoking during pregnancy and present specific figures and cases in order to reduce the number of women who smoke during pregnancy.
The message that the group of scientists are trying to send is that women are strongly advised to quit smoking at the beginning of the pregnancy, or even better, before becoming pregnant in order to avoid having babies with physical or psychological defects.
Researchers believe that there should be implemented smoking prevention programs that should present more precisely the risks and help future moms understand what they are facing their unborn child.
This study is the first one that reviews the exact malformations caused by smoking during pregnancy and also offer some exact figures regarding the risks for each malformation.
The research was performed at the UCL Cancer Institute and the lead author of the research is Professor Allan Hackshaw, a member of the College of Physicians Tobacco Advisory Group.
The study was also published in the "Human Reproduction Update" journal.
