Smoking During Pregnancy Doubles Risk Of Sudden Death For Baby, Study Says

(CNN) — Smoking even one cigarette a day during pregnancy can double the chance of sudden unexpected death for your baby, according to a new study analyzing over 20 million births, including over 19,000 unexpected infant deaths. The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, analyzed data on smoking during pregnancy from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s birth/infant death data set between 2007 and 2011 and found that the risk of death rises by .07 for each additional cigarette smoked, up to 20 a day, a typical pack of cigarettes. By the time you smoke a pack a day, the study found, your baby’s risk of unexpected sudden death has nearly tripled compared with infants of nonsmokers. “One of the most compelling and most important points that I would take away from the study is that even smoking one or two cigarettes still had an effect on sudden infant death,” said pulmonologist Dr. Cedric “Jamie” Rutland, a national spokesman for the American Lung Association. “Every cigarette counts,” said lead study author Tatiana Anderson, a neuroscientist at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute. “And doctors should be having these conversations with their patients and saying, ‘Look, you should quit. That’s your best odds for decreasing sudden infant death. But if you can’t, every cigarette that you can reduce does help.’ ” SIDS and SUID Sudden infant death syndrome,...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health News Cigarettes Pregnancy Smoking Source Type: news