Pregnant women risk heart defects in baby by smoking

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Pregnant women risk heart defects in baby by smoking

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A study finds that mothers who smoke during the first trimester of pregnancy are more likely to give birth to babies with some of the most common types of birth defects.

05 March,2011 09:00 am

Women who smoked early in pregnancy were 30 percent more likely to give birth to babies with obstructions in the flow of blood from the heart to the lungs, and nearly 40 percent more likely to have babies with openings in the upper chambers of their hearts.Dr. Adolfo Correa of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and his team reviewed information collected from mothers of 2,525 infants with congenital heart defects and mothers of 3,435 similar infants who were born with healthy hearts.Based on his results, women who smoked during early pregnancy were 36 percent more likely to have a baby with these abnormalities, and 32 percent more likely to have a baby born with obstruction in blood flow to the lungs.Its not clear how smoking may affect heart development, Correa noted. Heart problems arent the only risk to babies associated with smoking in pregnancy, women who maintain the unhealthy habit are also more likely to have pre-term or very small babies and to have babies born with cleft lip and palate.Overall, 40,000 babies are born with some type of congenital heart defect every year, according to the CDC.