Smoking In Pregnancy Is Better For Mother
WANT a smaller baby, and lessen the need for a Cesarean section? Then smoke ten fags a day.
(Can the increased use of Cesarean section be linked to reduced tobacco intake in pregnant women? Anorak feels a research grant coming our way.)
Smoking in pregnancy is far less damaging to the unborn baby than commonly supposed, detailed analysis suggests. If women give up smoking by the fifth month of pregnancy, the effect on the baby is negligible, the study found. And even if they do not, the effect on birthweight is surprisingly small.
And:
Middle-class women suffer almost no damaging effects, the analysis suggests, even if they continue to smoke throughout pregnancy.
Smaller babies can mean a quicker and easier birth:
Analysis of the data shows that smoking throughout pregnancy reduces birthweight by 5.6 per cent, and the gestation period by just over a day. But when the results are corrected for other factors, such as diet, lifestyle and alcohol, the effect of smoking on birthweight drops to 1.8 per cent and the reduction in gestation becomes insignificant.
Forget the C-Section. We’re in the S(moking)-Section…
Posted: 14th, February 2008 | In: Broadsheets Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
