A study that was published in the Journal Pediatrics aimed to investigate the effects of maternal pregnancy and smoking, reduction of smoking during pregnancy, and smoking during pregnancy. Their conclusion was that US rates of SUID could be reduced by 22% if no women smoked during pregnancy.
SUID stands for sudden unexpected infant death. It is used as a broad term that encompasses all sudden infant deaths. This includes SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), accidental deaths, and sudden natural deaths (from infections, disorders, neurological conditions, and homicides).
In the study, the researchers investigated a known factor for SUDS: maternal smoking during pregnancy. They analyzed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Birth Cohort Linked Birth / Infant Death Data from 2007.
The results showed that SUID risk more than doubled with any maternal smoking during pregnancy, and increased twofold between no smoking and smoking 1 cigarette daily through pregnancy. For 1-20 cigarettes per day, the probability of SUID increased linearly, with each additional cigarette smoked per day increasing the odds of SUID by 0.07. Beyond 20 cigarettes per day, the relationship between SUID plateaued.
Mothers who quit or reduced their smoking during pregnancy decreased their odds of the baby experiencing SUID (as compared with mothers who continued smoking during pregnancy).
The researchers concluded that the data supports a need for smoking cessation before pregnancy. If no women in the United States smoked in pregnancy, the rates of SUIDs in the United States could be reduced substantially.
It is not only cigarettes that women need to avoid smoking during pregnancy. Dr. Rahul Gupta, chief medical and health office at the March of Dimes, pointed out that nicotine is a problem. This means mothers who vape while pregnant are exposing their baby to nicotine.
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