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Updated: Jul 13, 2026
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Fetal behavior in smoking compared to non-smoking pregnant women
B Cowperthwaite1, S M J Hains, B S Kisilevsky
1Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Objective:
To determine the effects of maternal smoking on fetal spontaneous behavior and auditory processing.
Methods:
38 fetuses of smoking (n=18) and non-smoking (n=20) mothers, stratified by gestational age (<37, >or=37 weeks GA), were examined at least 1h following smoking. Observations included spontaneous fetal heart rate (FHR; 20 min) and body movements (20 min) followed by a 2 min audiotape of the mother reading a story while FHR and body movements were recorded.
Results:
There were no differences in spontaneous behaviors; full-term fetuses showed a FHR acceleration and body movement during the mother's voice. A FHR response following voice offset was limited to fetuses less than 37 weeks GA of non-smoking mothers.
Conclusion:
Fetuses less than 37 weeks GA of mothers who smoke throughout pregnancy have a delayed onset of response to the maternal voice, a subtle difference which may have implications for later language development for prematurely born infants which needs further investigation.
