[Effect of smoking during pregnancy on maternal condition and birth outcome--overview of epidemiologic studies]

Kinga Polańska1, Wojciech Hanke

  • 1Zakład Epidemiologii Srodowiskowej, Instytut Medycyny Pracy w Lodzi. kinga@imp.lodz.pl

The association between maternal smoking and retarded fetal grow was first time described in 1957, and now is well know. In addition smoking during pregnancy increases risk of spontaneous abortion, placenta previa, abruptio placenta, preterm premature rupture of membranes, stillbirth, preterm delivery and congenital malformations. The risk for most of these conditions has been found to increase with the number of cigarettes smoked and on the other hand women who stopped smoking during pregnancy are at the lower risk for most of those pathologies.

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