Not only smoking during pregnancy is very detrimental to the development of the baby, as well as being it for the mother, of course. But it is also important that they smoke near you. Even being exposed to secondhand smoke during pregnancy is linked to epigenetic changes in the baby.
Whether at work, in public places or at home, being a passive smoker causes changes in the way genes are regulated, increasing the risk of developmental disorders and cancer .
The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, is the first to link secondhand smoke during pregnancy with epigenetic modifications of disease-related genes.
Their results support the idea that many adult diseases have their origins in environmental exposures, such as stress, poor nutrition, pollution, or tobacco smoke, during early development.
“What we recommend to mothers in general is that no level of smoke exposure is safe. Even low levels of smoke from secondhand exposure affect epigenetic markings on disease-related pathways. That does not mean that all who are exposed will have a child with some disease outcome, but it contributes to an increased risk, “said Bernard Fuemmeler, PhD, MPH, lead author of the study.
Epigenetic “Marks” in Babies
Fuemmeler and her colleagues analyzed data from 79 pregnant women between 2005 and 2011. During the first trimester, they all had a concentration of cotinine , a by-product of nicotine, in their blood consistent with low levels of smoke exposure.
After these women gave birth, the researchers took samples of the umbilical cord blood, which is the same blood that circulates through the fetus in the womb, and conducted what is known as an epigenome-wide association study. (EWAS) to look for correlations between mothers’ blood cotinine levels during pregnancy and epigenetic patterns in babies at birth.
When cotinine levels were higher, newborns were more likely to have epigenetic “marks” on genes that control the development of brain function, as well as genes related to diabetes and cancer.
You don’t smoke either
For some women, quitting smoking in pregnancy takes a lot of effort, but it’s worth quitting, for the sake of your baby. But not only that, but you also have to avoid smoking around and stay away from smoky spaces.
Additionally, passive smoking has detrimental effects on babies too (and especially), so it’s a good time to start paving the way for a smoke-free home and environment by the time the baby is born .
In Babies and more | WHO warns that smoking in pregnancy or exposure to smoke increases the risk of fetal death and preterm birth
