Apples for Health- Moms-to-be have 'window' to quit smoking

Moms-to-be have 'window' to quit smoking

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 27 (UPI) -- Pregnant women have a 15-week "window" of opportunity to quit smoking to reduce the risk of spontaneous preterm birth, researchers in New Zealand said.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that women who stop smoking before week 15 of pregnancy cut their risk of spontaneous premature birth and having small babies to that of non-smokers.

Women who continue smoking past 15 weeks, are three times more likely to give birth prematurely and twice as likely to have small babies compared to women who have stopped smoking,

Lead author Dr. Lesley McCowan of the University of Auckland said the researchers suggest women should be warned of the risks and encouraged to give up smoking as soon as possible during a pregnancy.

The researchers surveyed more than 2,500 pregnant women participating in the SCOPE study in Australia and New Zealand at 15 weeks gestation. The participants were divided into three groups: non-smoker, stopped smoker and current smoker. The stopped smoker group all gave up before 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The findings show that there were no differences between the rates of premature birth between stopped smokers and non-smokers, whereas current smokers had much higher risk. Similar results were revealed for expected baby size, the study said.