Babies of smokers have high SIDS risk
Infants born early to smokers are at great risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and have a tough time recovering from low-oxygen conditions.
Infants born early to smokers are at risk of
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and have a tough time recovering from low-oxygen conditions.
Researchers from Canada conducted a study to determine the effects of prenatal cigarette
smoking on duration and recovery of breathing pauses and oxygen saturation levels under baseline and hypoxemic conditions in pre-term babies. The study involved 22 pre-term infants born between 28 and 36 weeks' gestation. Twelve babies were born to smoking mothers who smoked at least 5 cigarettes daily and 10 to non-smokers.
Researchers observed the babies for three hours at ambient oxygen levels and the babies showed identical breathing pattern. Then the oxygen concentration of the air was reduced and the infants' breathing were monitored closely for five minutes. The test was halted if the oxygen level in their blood fell too low. The researchers compared several parameters like breathing pauses, time to recovery, oxygen saturation, periods of wakefulness and cardio-respiratory rates between the two groups of babies. It was found that the heart rates of babies born to smokers jumped more sharply during the low-oxygen condition and didn't return to pre-challenge levels, suggesting they were more stressed by the lack of oxygen.
Furthermore, as the babies were put to sleep on their backs, cigarette smoke exposure in the womb and in early infancy became the chief risk factor for SIDS. As pre-term babies' breathing control systems are not developed fully, these infants frequently had apnoeas or breathing pauses. Also, blood oxygen levels in these babies didn't return to normal as quickly as it did in the non-smoke-exposed babies.
The researchers concluded that pregnant woman who smoke were about 30 percent more likely to give birth prematurely. Moreover, their babies have longer breathing pauses increasing the risk of SIDS.
American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
September 2008
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