Smoking in pregnancy: effects on mother and fetus

The maternal and fetal effects of smoking tobacco or non-tobacco cigarettes were studied in 75 pregnant patients and compared with a matched control group of 22 pregnant patients who did not smoke. The increase in maternal heart rate, maternal mean arterial pressure and fetal heart rate, and decrease in fetal heart rate 'baseline variability' and in fetal movements, were shown to be due primarily to the nicotine content of the cigarette.