Studies show that even delicate smoking during pregnancy affects the health of the newborn.

Smoking during pregnancy is known to raise the risk of premature birth, low birth weight, and restricted growth of the fetus. But can delicate smoking during pregnancy, just one or two cigarettes, still harm the newborn?

A study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests that “there is no secure period or level of smoking shortly before or during pregnancy.” The recent study adds to the evidence of the harmful effects of smoking during pregnancy, emphasizing the need to quit completely for the health of your baby.

The research team used data from the U.S. National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), which recorded a total of 15,379,982 live births between 2016 and 2019. After filtering out factors such as multiple pregnancies, high blood pressure or diabetes before pregnancy, and lack of information on smoking status 3 months before and during pregnancy, the researchers narrowed it down to 12,150,535 mother-child pairs.

The study noted that more than 9% of them admitted to smoking cigarettes before pregnancy, 7% in the first trimester, 6% in the second trimester and about 6% in the third trimester. Smoking intensity was measured by the number of cigarettes smoked per day: 0, 1–2, 3–5, 6–9, 10–19 and 20 or more.

“Women who smoked had more risk factors for neonatal health problems: they tended to be younger, white, non-Hispanic white, unmarried, and obese, had less education, more preterm births, and were less likely to utilize prenatal care,” the paper reads. press release it was stated.

The estimated incidence of neonatal health problems was approximately 9.5%. Neonatal health problems included cases in which neonates required immediate assisted ventilation, ventilation for more than 6 hours, admission to the neonatal intensive care unit for continuous mechanical ventilation, surfactant replacement therapy, and cases with suspected sepsis, seizures, or stern neurologic problems.

“Smoking before pregnancy or during any of the 3 trimesters of pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of stern health problems in the newborn, either alone or in combination, after adjusting for potentially confounding factors such as age, ethnicity, and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI),” the press release reads.

In cases where mothers-to-be smoked before pregnancy, the risk of having more than one stern health problem in the newborn was 27% higher. The risk was 31-32% higher if she smoked at any time during pregnancy.

Compared to mothers-to-be who did not smoke at all, smoking both before pregnancy and at any time during pregnancy puts newborns at greater risk of developing more than one health problem.

“Even delicate smoking—1 to 2 cigarettes per day—was associated with an increased risk of stern health problems in the newborn. For example, mothers who smoked 1 to 2 cigarettes per day before pregnancy had a 16 percent higher risk, rising to 31 percent if they smoked 20 or more cigarettes per day,” the press release said.

When a mother-to-be smokes just one or two cigarettes a day, the risk of her baby being admitted to intensive care is 13 percent higher. This risk increases to 29 percent for those who smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day.