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Smoking during pregnancy and babbling abilities of the 8-month-old infant
C Obel1, T B Henriksen, M Hedegaard
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
Insights
Maternal smoking during pregnancy is linked to delayed infant babbling. Smoking 10+ cigarettes daily nearly doubled the risk of non-babbling at 8 months, especially in breastfed infants.
Area of Science:
- Neurodevelopmental research
- Prenatal exposure studies
- Infant communication development
Background:
- The fetal brain's sensitivity to nicotine is suggested by animal studies.
- The impact of maternal smoking during pregnancy on child neurodevelopment is debated.
- Babbling is a crucial early communication milestone.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and infant babbling abilities at 8 months.
- To determine if a dose-response relationship exists.
- To explore the influence of breastfeeding duration on this association.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal cohort study including 1871 infants.
- Data collected at 16 weeks gestation, delivery, and 8 months postpartum.
- Infant babbling assessed by health visitors during home visits; confounders controlled.
Main Results:
- A dose-response relationship was observed between maternal smoking quantity and babbling ability.
- Smoking 10 or more cigarettes daily increased the risk of being a non-babbler by nearly twofold (OR=2.0).
- This risk was further elevated (OR=2.7) for infants breastfed less than 4 months.
Conclusions:
- Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy is associated with impaired babbling development in infants.
- Higher smoking doses correlate with greater risk of delayed babbling.
- Breastfeeding duration may modify the impact of prenatal smoking on infant communication skills.
Abstract:
Animal experiments suggest that the fetal brain is sensitive to nicotine. Although much attention has been given to the relation between cigarette smoking during pregnancy and neurodevelopment in children, this remains controversial. Our study describes the relationship between maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and babbling abilities of the 8-month-old infant. In a longitudinal cohort, information was collected at the 16th week of gestation, at delivery and when the infant was about 8 months old. At this age babbling abilities of the infant were evaluated by a health visitor during a home visit. Singleton infants without any disability born at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, 1991-92 and still living in the Community of Aarhus at the age of 8 months were eligible (n = 2302). Complete follow-up was obtained for 1871 children (81.3%). A dose-response-like relationship between number of cigarettes smoked per day during pregnancy and babbling abilities was found after controlling for potential confounders. Smoking 10 or more cigarettes per day during pregnancy almost doubled the risk (odds ratio [OR] = 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-3.6) of the infant being a non-babbler at the examination at 8 months. Among children who were breast fed for less than 4 months this risk was even higher (OR = 2.7, CI 1.3-5.8).