Smoking during pregnancy can damage baby Blood pressure

Researcher said
Smoke exposure during pregnancy damages a baby's blood pressure control, which may explain why such babies' risk of cot death is higher, say experts.

Risk
Motherly smoking remains one of the biggest risk factors for cot death.
A team of researcher found smoke-exposed babies had abnormal surges in blood pressure, even when sleeping undisturbed in their cots.

These surges put extra demand on the heart, making it pump faster and harder, the journal Hypertension says.

The study suggests damage to the circulation may be a factor in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), although it set out to look at the effects of smoking on the newborn rather than cot death per se.

Study
Studied 36 newborn babies - 17 of whom had mothers who smoked during the pregnancy.
When they examined the babies they found the ones that had been exposed to cigarette smoke showed abnormal heart rate and blood pressure responses.
And these abnormal responses got worse throughout their first year of life.

Result
At one week of age the smoke-exposed babies showed abnormally large blood pressure rises as they were lifted up from lying down.

By the age of one, the same babies appeared to have adapted to this and now showed abnormally low blood pressure responses to the same posture change.


Usually, when a person stands the heart rate increases and the blood vessels tighten, raising blood pressure slightly, to keep up the blood flow to the heart and brain. researcher said: "Babies of smokers have evidence of persistent problems in blood pressure regulation that start at birth and get worse over time.