A new European study has shown that smoking during pregnancy increases the risk that the child will develop asthma and wheezing early on in their childhood, even if the child isn’t exposed to second-hand smoke following birth. Not only that, but the risk increases substantially for children whose mothers only smoked during the first trimester, which “indicates that the hazardous effects of maternal smoking on the foetal respiratory system might present before the woman knows that she is pregnant,” said Anna Bergstrom of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm Sweden. The researchers hope that their findings will encourage public health efforts to get mothers to quit smoking before they fall pregnant. “Policy makers should be aware of the important role of motivating tobacco smoking teenage girls and young women to stop before getting pregnant to prevent asthma in their children.” To aid with quitting, women who are planning to get pregnant should begin with e-cigarettes or other forms of quitting as early as possible.

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http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120821/Childhood-asthma-link-shows-it-is-never-too-soon-for-mums-to-quit-smoking.aspx