Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland say even if women quit smoking during the first trimester of their pregnancy, it’s not enough to protect the child from being born shorter, and with a smaller brain.
Scientists looked at 1.4 million mother-child pairs in Finland looking at the effects of maternal smoking on the baby.
“Smoking during pregnancy is relatively common” says researcher Isabell Rumrich.
“In this study, 84.5% were non-smokers and 3.5% quit smoking during the first trimester, but 12% continued to smoke after the first trimester” she adds.
Although quitting smoking during the first trimester does reduce the risk of low birth weight, it doesn’t completely cancel it out.
In fact, the research project found that the effects on the baby’s body proportions were the same whether the mother quit smoking during the first trimester, or if she continued smoking.
The study also suggests there is a limited potential to repair damage to the developing baby which happens during early pregnancy - such as smoking.
“The most important finding of our study is that although quitting smoking int he first rimester reduces the risk of low birth weight, brain size and body length in relation to body weight seem not to catch up” explains Isabell Rumrich.
“This stresses the importance of quitting smoking already before pregnancy, since even smoking only during early pregnancy can have devastating effects on the long term health of the unborn child” she says.
