Smoking during pregnancy ‘can cause respiratory issues for children’

Mothers who smoke during pregnancy could be creating respiratory problems for their children during their early life, new research has shown.

A study carried out in Sweden has suggested that maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with wheeze and asthma in preschool children, even among those who were not exposed to maternal smoking late in pregnancy or after birth.

Assessment of data collated from more than 21,000 children showed that these harmful effects were linked with smoking during the first trimester of pregnancy, indicating that the harmful effects begin early during the gestation process, often before the mother is even aware she is with child.

Lead author Dr Asa Neuman of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, said: "Teens and young women should be encouraged to quit smoking before getting pregnant."

Last month, a study from the US suggested that obesity among pregnant women can also create health problems for offspring, including low levels of iron.