Vitamin C Prevents Lung Damage in Babies Caused by Maternal Smoking: Study

Intake of vitamin C supplements during pregnancy improves lung function and prevents wheezing problems in children of mothers who smoke, according to a study.

Expectant mothers are advised against smoking cigarettes and tobacco products as they increase risk of stillbirth, preterm delivery, low-birth weight, lungs infections and heart defects in babies. However, in a recent study experts found vitamin C can stall the side effects of nicotine on lung development and pulmonary function in fetus.

The research involved 159 women who smoked in their pregnancy of whom 76 received vitamin C supplements and the rest 83 were placed on a placebo. Researchers conducted pulmonary function tests (PFT) on the children of smoking participants within 72 hours after birth to evaluate how well the lungs take in and release air. These results were compared to that of another group of 76 babies born to non-smoking mothers.

It was observed that children of smoking mothers who took vitamin C supplements had improved measures of pulmonary function and were 40 percent less likely to have wheezing at age one compared to babies of subjects from the placebo group. But  the study did not note any striking difference in PFT results in both groups that were conducted till the children were one year old.

"Although smoking cessation is the foremost goal, most pregnant smokers continue to smoke, supporting the need for a pharmacologic intervention," wrote the authors in the study .

"This emphasizes the important opportunity of in-utero intervention. Individuals who begin life with decreased PFT measures may be at increased risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease."

About 50 percent of women are unable to kick the habit and continue smoking cigarettes even after conceiving. According to the data by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10.7 percent of American mothers reported using tobacco during pregnancy. Nearly 54 percent of these women smoked in their first trimester and 44 percent resumed smoking within 6 months after delivery.

"Vitamin C supplementation in pregnant smokers may be an inexpensive and simple approach with continued smoking cessation counseling to decrease some of the effects of smoking in pregnancy on newborn pulmonary function and ultimately infant respiratory morbidities, but further study is required," the researchers add.

More information is available online in JAMA.