Tokyo, January 05: Women who are used to smoking early during pregnancy are more prone to experience a miscarriage in the first trimester comparing to none-smokers.
A study of about 1,300 Japanese women indicated that 32 percent of the women who smoked while being pregnant miscarried their baby comparing to only 4 percent of non-smokers.
Furthermore, mothers who smoked heavily during pregnancy — at least 20 cigarettes per day — were more than twice as likely as the non-smokers to suffer from a miscarriage in the first trimester, says a study led by Dr. Sachiko Baba of Osaka University, Japan.
Most miscarriages happen in the first trimester, mainly due to genetic abnormalities while studies have suggested that some habits such as using certain drugs, heavy alcohol consumption, smoking and using narcotics may raise the risk.
However, the new study suggests that smoking is more linked to miscarriages than drinking and drug use, according to the results published in Human Reproduction.
The Japanese researchers have also found that women who worked during the first trimester were 65 percent more likely to have a miscarriage than those who stayed at home.
Some studies have linked certain jobs with high physical demands or chemical exposures to miscarriage risk.
However, the new studies did not divide the women into job types, requiring further studies to support and develop the finding.
——–Agencies