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Women and smoking

Pregnant women shouldn't be subject to even passive smoking

KEEP OFF Smoking during pregnancy can cause permanent genetic mutations in the foetus Photo: AFP

Smoking and being subject to passive smoking during pregnancy are likely to cause permanent genetic mutations in the foetus, a new report concludes. Stephen G. Grant, University of Pittsburgh, found that babies born to active smokers, to women who were exposed to secondary smoke during pregnancy and to women who quit smoking when they found out they were pregnant had similar and significant increases in gene mutations. The mutations were found by examining umbilical cord blood.

A woman who quits smoking when she discovers she is pregnant, Dr. Grant said, is more likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke. "She is likely to continue to socialise with friends and family who smoke and to frequent places where others continue to smoke, thinking that exposure to other smokers is not such a big deal," he said, adding, "Our study should disabuse her of that notion."

If second-hand smoke does as much damage as smoking, then it may be essential to protect pregnant women and women who intend to become pregnant by banning smoking in the workplace and public spaces.

People should probably be barred from smoking anywhere in the presence of a pregnant woman. "If they actually quit smoking themselves, then pregnant women have tried very hard to do the right thing for their baby," Dr. Grant said.

The New York Times

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