This is not only firsthand smoking by pregnant mothers that exposes their foetuses to mental as well as physical health problems, as secondhand smoking during pregnancy does the same, claims a new study.
Before rolling out with this conclusion, researchers monitored a group of children between the ages 7 to 15, all of whom had serious psychiatric problems. Further, these children were divided into three groups:-
1. Children with mothers who smoked during pregnancy.
2. Children with mothers who didn’t smoke during pregnancy, but were exposed to secondhand smoking.
3. Children with mothers exposed neither smoked nor exposed to secondhand smoking.
Finally, it was concluded that kids with mothers exposed to firsthand or secondhand smoking were more susceptible to externalizing behaviors when compared to kids with mothers unexposed to any kind of smoking.
In the words of Gatzke-Kopp:
Children of smokers, as well as of women exposed to secondhand smoke, were much more likely than the offspring of non-exposed women to have externalizing behaviors, which include “acting out, getting in trouble, being aggressive, breaking rules.
Actually, brain possesses a system called, dopamine, which is know to regulate our behaviors, however, exposure to smoking, irrespective of the fact, it is firsthand smoking or second smoking , it effects mental health of an unborn baby startlingly. This confirms the fact that exposure to smoking during pregnancy is quite harmful for the mental health of an unborn baby.
However, it must be clarified here that this is not the first study that uncovers harmful effects of smoking over the health of unborn babies, as several studies conducted earlier have also come up with similar findings. For instance, passive smoking has been linked to miscarriage, even. In addition, threats caused by firsthand smoking during pregnancy can also not be ignored, as they may also result in several forms of health problems in babies, like:-
1. Prenatal Smoke Exposure Results in Teen Attention Problems
2. Chances of Baby Boy May End in Smoke with Smoking
3. Smoking Moms Risk ADHD In Kids
Via: Stuff
