FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 9, 2011

New report: Secondhand smoke linked to stillbirths, congenital malformation

Area health departments caution pregnant women to avoid secondhand smoke and urge smokers to abstain from smoking indoors or in vehicles with pregnant women. A report recently published in the respected international medical journal Pediatrics demonstrates that secondhand smoke exposure in nonsmoking pregnant women significantly increased the risk of stillbirths and congenital malformation.

“We have known for years that secondhand smoke adversely affects the cardiac and respiratory health of those around the smoker,” said Lougene Marsh, MPA, director of the Johnson County Health Department. “There has also been growing evidence of a significant negative impact on the health of the unborn when someone chooses to smoke around a pregnant woman.”

The authors of the report, Secondhand Smoke and Adverse Fetal Outcomes in Nonsmoking Pregnant Women: A Meta-analysis, reviewed 19 studies that assessed the effects of secondhand smoke on nonsmoking pregnant women. Their review found that nonsmoking pregnant women who are exposed to secondhand smoke are estimated to be 23 percent more likely to experience stillbirth and 13 percent more likely to give birth to a child with a congenital malformation.

“Some birth defects are the result of exposures before the pregnancy,” said Rex Archer, MD, MPH, director of the City of Kansas City, Mo., Health Department. “Until we know specifically how secondhand smoke is causing these increased risks, the prudent thing is for women to avoid secondhand smoke if they are even considering getting pregnant.”

Other medical studies over the last 10 years have linked strong smoking ordinances that prohibit smoking in enclosed workplaces to significant decreases in hospitalization and death from cardiac arrest in nonsmokers.

For more information on this topic, contact your local health department.

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