Maternal Smoking Before and During Pregnancy and the Risk of Sudden Unexpected Infant Death

 

See original CNN article: https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/11/health/smoking-infant-sudden-death-risk-study/index.html

See journal article: https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2019/03/07/peds.2018-3325

Researchers from the Seattle Children’s Research Institute in Washington analyzed data on smoking during pregnancy from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s birth/infant death data set between 2007-2011. They recently published their findings in the scientific journal, Pediatrics. They found that the risk of death rises by .07 for each additional cigarette smoked during pregnancy.

For mothers who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, they found that babies’ risk of unexpected sudden death is nearly tripled compared to infants with mothers who are nonsmokers. The researchers concluded that “every cigarette counts” and prenatal providers should be having conversations about quitting smoking with their patients.