Smoking During Pregnancy Can Up the Risk of Heart Defects in Children: Study

Children born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy are at risk of abnormalities of heart, according to a study.
Time and again mums-to-be are advised against smoking, doing drugs and drinking alcohol that cause serious birth defects in children and also up the risk of premature deaths of babies. A research led by Patrick M. Sullivan, clinical fellow in pediatric cardiology at the Seattle Children's Hospital, analyzed records of 14,128 children who were born with heart defects and compared the data with 62,274 babies who were born healthy between 1989 and 2011 to observe the effects of smoking on fetal heart. Experts also recorded the number of times the mothers' smoked daily from the information given in the birth certificates.
It was found mothers who reportedly smoked during pregnancy had 50 to 60 percent chances of having children with major abnormalities in the pulmonary valve and pulmonary arteries in the heart that is responsible for supply of blood to the lungs. The study noted that more the mothers smoked cigarettes, higher were the risks for these conditions. Mothers aged over 35 years who smoked were at higher risk of having children with these defects.
The findings also revealed 20 percent probability of children being born with atrial septal defects or holes in the heart chambers that can only be treated with complex medical procedures.
"I care for kids with complex congenital heart disease on a daily basis, and I see these kids and their families enduring long hospitalizations and often sustaining serious long-term complications as a result of their disease. Usually, the cause of a heart defect is unknown. I saw this research as an opportunity to study what might be a preventable cause of congenital heart defects," said Dr Sullivan in a news release.
The authors said the smoking habit persists and 10 percent of mothers continue smoking even after they conceive and smoking especially during the first trimester is responsible for 1 to 2 percent of all heart defects in newborns.
"Women, particularly younger women, are still smoking while pregnant, despite largely successful public health efforts to reduce smoking in the general public over the past few decades," added Dr Sullivan. "Ongoing cigarette use during pregnancy is a serious problem that increases the risk of many adverse outcomes in newborns. Our research provides strong support for the hypothesis that smoking while pregnant increases the risk of specific heart defects."
The research was presented at the annual meet of the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) in Vancouver, Canada.
May 05, 2014 07:28 AM EDT