Secondhand smoking can have adverse effects on pregnancy including miscarriages and stillbirths, a latest University of Buffalo study shows.
For the study, researchers studied over 80,000 postmenopausal women who were pregnant at least once. The participants were involved with the Women's Health Initiative study.
Of these participating women, 6.3 percent were smokers at present, 43 percent used to smoke and 51 percent never smoked. The researchers focussed on the effect of secondhand smoking on non-smokers during their childhood and adulthood.
The research team examined the women who had exposure to secondhand smoke for over 10 to 20 years. They found that 17 percent experienced miscarriages, 55 percent stillbirth and 61 percent ectopic pregnancies.
The researchers then compared the results of smokers and non-smokers. They found that women who smoked during their reproductive years had 16 percent higher chances of having miscarriage. They were also found to have 44 percent higher chances of experiencing stillbirth and 43 percent greater chances of experiencing ectopic pregnancy.
"This study demonstrated that pregnancy outcomes can be correlated with secondhand smoking. Significantly, women who have never smoked but were exposed to secondhand smoke were at greater risk for fetal loss," study lead author, Andrew Hyland, PhD, Chair of RPCI's Department of Health Behavior said in a university news release.
"This study offers new information for women regarding the lifetime impact secondhand smoke can have on reproductive outcomes and their ability to successfully bring a pregnancy to full term," Dr Hyland added. "The strength of the study also provides public-health professionals and others with information upon which to base health guidelines about the significant consequences of secondhand smoke."
More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Tobacco Control.
