New mom smokers have cranky babies…
Previous studies already have shown that unbabies exposed to tobacco are more likely to have a low birthweight and are at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome.
Now new research reveals that these babies are also less likely to self-soothe and are more aroused and excitable than newborns whose mothers didn’t smoke during pregnancy – and researchers from The Miriam Hospital’s Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine say this could disrupt the mom-baby bond.
“A baby who is harder to soothe and more irritable could be more difficult to take care of and could potentially affect the developing mother-child relationship, especially for mothers who are already stressed and have fewer resources,” says lead author, psychologist Laura Stroud, PhD. “We need better treatment programs to help women not smoke during pregnancy, to keep them from starting smoking after the baby is born, and to help them take care of an excitable or colicky baby.”
Between 11 and 30% of women continue to smoke during pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition to the physical side effects, tobacco exposure in utero has also been linked to long-term adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in children, including conduct disorder and hyperactivity. However, researchers say relatively less attention has focused on the effects of maternal smoking on newborn neurobehavior.
The study focused on newborns between 10 and 27 days old because babies this age are well past the ‘half-life’ of nicotine, meaning the acute effects of nicotine withdrawal were unlikely to be a factor in the study. All 56 babies – 28 smoking-exposed and 28 unexposed – were healthy and full-term. Maternal social class, age and alcohol use were similar in each group.
Mothers in the study were assigned to the smoking or non-smoking group based on self-reports of cigarette use during pregnancy assessed shortly after babies were born. This was verified by measuring levels of substances connected to smoking in the mother’s saliva which are passed from mother to infant, with the baby absorbing nearly as much as the mother does. On average, the number of cigarettes mothers smoked each day decreased over the course of the pregnancy, from about 15 per day in the first trimester (weeks 0-12) to approximately five cigarettes in the third trimester (weeks 29-40).
If you’re pregnant and having problems quitting, speak to your OB-GYN or midwife about getting help to stop. If your newborn is difficult to soothe or colicky, ask your pediatrician for advice. If at any time you feel you can’t cope with your crying baby, place him in his crib and take a five-minute break – he’ll be perfectly safe.
The study is published online November 2008 by the
Journal of Pediatrics.