Smoking During Pregnancy Doubles The Risk Of Sudden Infant Death

2023 Author: Abraham Higgins | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-27 23:16

Smoking during pregnancy doubles the risk of sudden infant death

Any amount of cigarettes smoked during pregnancy (even one cigarette per day) doubles the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In women who smoked an average of 1-20 cigarettes per day, the risk of sudden infant death increased with each additional cigarette.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons /

A new study by the Seattle Children's Research Institute and Microsoft scientists showed that smoking before and during pregnancy increases the risk of sudden death in a child under one year of age.

Any number of cigarettes smoked during pregnancy (even one cigarette per day) doubles the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics. In women who smoked an average of 1-20 cigarettes per day, the risk of sudden infant death increased with each additional cigarette.

The results of the study, according to the authors, will help doctors advise women, warn of the double risk of sudden child death, and start an appropriate campaign to inform women.

If not a single woman smoked during pregnancy, then, according to scientists, in the United States, 800 out of 3,700 annual deaths from SIDS could be avoided, that is, their number could be reduced by 22%.

To better understand how smoking affects the risk of SIDS, the researchers used computer modeling techniques to analyze maternal smoking in the United States from 2007 to 2011. Of the approximately 20 million newborns included in their analysis, more than 19,000 died from SIDS (an as yet poorly understood and little-studied cause) or accidental asphyxiation in the crib.

The researchers also looked at how smoking before pregnancy and reducing or quitting smoking during pregnancy affect the risk of developing SIDS. Compared to pregnant smokers who did not reduce their cigarette intake during pregnancy, women who started smoking less in the third trimester had a 12% reduction in the risk of SIDS. Smoking cessation was associated with a 23% reduction in risk.

The analysis also showed that children of mothers who smoked three months before pregnancy and quit smoking in the first trimester were still at increased risk of SIDS compared with non-nonsmoking children.

“The most important thing for women in this case is to understand that smoking cessation before and during pregnancy significantly reduces the risk of SIDS. If pregnant women cannot quit smoking altogether, then they should at least reduce the amount they smoke, since each cigarette increases the risk of sudden infant death,”says study author Dr. Tatiana Anderson.