Yale Medical Group, The Physicians of Yale University.
 Home  Visitor and Patient Guide For Physicians Health Information Physician Directory Contact Us
News & Information
 
YMG Articles Archive Advanced Medicine at Yale Women's HealthHeart, Diabetes, and Breast HealthYour Child's Health Men's Health





About YMG
  

Smokers' Infants Born With High Nicotine Exposure

Did You Know?

According to the American Lung Association (ALA), environmental tobacco smoke contributes to 150,000 to 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections annually in children less than 18 months of age, resulting in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations.

Also, according to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) studies have shown that maternal smoking during pregnancy has long-term effects on children's behavior and health, including adolescent drug abuse and negative behavior and conduct such as impulsiveness, risk-taking, and rebelliousness. Prenatal exposure to smoke may also predispose children to early smoking experimentation.

Although fewer women are smoking during their pregnancy now than ever before, the habit still persists among many women. In addition, even if a pregnant woman does not smoke, she may be exposed to secondhand smoke in the household, workplace, or in social settings.

Smoke can be damaging to a fetus in several ways, and may cause low birthweight, preterm birth, stillbirths, and birth defects.

Subsequently, babies born to smokers may also have the following problems:

  • respiratory problems 
  • increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
  • problems with growth,  development and behavior

Researchers believe the effects of carbon monoxide (which reduces oxygen in the blood) and nicotine (which stimulates certain hormones) cause many of these adverse effects.

However, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), if a woman quits smoking early in her pregnancy, she increases her chance of delivering a healthy baby.

Always consult your child's physician for more information.

[June 2007] When at least one parent in a household smokes, infants have levels of a toxin called cotinine that are over five times higher than those with non-smoking parents, a British study finds. Cotinine is created as the body tries to get rid of the nicotine in inhaled smoke.

Study Findings: Cotinine Level Quadruples

naked baby on back

About one hundred 12-week-old infants were studied, and urine samples were obtained to check for cotinine levels. The majority of infants had at least one parent who smoked, around 30 per cent had non-smoking parents. Researchers found that having a mother who smoked quadrupled urine cotinine levels. Having a father who smoked doubled the urine cotinine level.

Other Risk Factors for Infants

The study authors also observed that  "'smoking' babies tend to come from poorer homes, which may have smaller rooms and inadequate heating".

Room temperature appears to have an independent effect on the risk factors for infant death. This has been demonstrated by earlier studies on seasonal patterns of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). An overheated infant is more likely to go into a deep sleep from which it is difficult to arouse.

Also, the study states that "higher cotinine levels in colder times of the year may be a reflection of the other key factors which influence exposure to passive smoking, such as poorer ventilation or a greater tendency for parents to smoke indoors in winter".

Effects of Higher Cotinine Levels

SIDS is the sudden and unexplained death of an infant under one year of age, and is sometimes called crib death. It is the major cause of death in infants, occurring most often between two and three months of age. The death is sudden and unpredictable; in most cases, the baby seems healthy.

Having a smoker parent is a known risk factor for SIDS and the study authors suggest that one reason could be that infants inhale smoke particles from the closeness of their parents' clothing or other objects. Infants had higher cotinine levels when they slept with their parents even when other factors were eliminated. Mothers who smoke are three times more likely to have a SIDS baby.

Although long term effects on infants in these passive smoking environments have not been determined, it is clear that babies become "heavy passive smokers" by being around the smoke of their parents.

Cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, has cardiovascular stimulant effects. It is also only one of the byproducts that tobacco smoke produces. How cotinine levels specifically affect infants is not known.

What is known is that an infant's exposure over time to smoking will have a cumulative effect, and may cause some delays in growth and other physical problems. According to the American Lung Association (ALA), secondhand smoke is considered responsible for 2,300 SIDS deaths each year. Secondhand smoke also increases the risk of serious respiratory disease during the first two years of a child's life.

Stop Smoking

As most parents are highly motivated to take care of their children, these study results provide even more incentive to stop smoking when pregnant or around infants.

Always consult your child's physician for more information.

  
 
Yale School of Medicine