Tobacco.org

• Maternal Smoking During Pregnancy and Neonatal Behavior: A Large-Scale Community Study  

METHODS. Participants were mothers and infants from the Providence, Rhode Island, cohort of the National Collaborative Perinatal Project enrolled between 1960 and 1966. . . .

CONCLUSIONS. In a large community sample, exposure to maternal smoking was associated with increased irritability and hypertonicity in neonates. Exposure to maternal smoking did not influence neonatal response to respiratory challenge. This study is the largest-scale investigation to date of the effects of maternal smoking (heavy and moderate) on examiner-assessed neonatal behavior. Given the associations between both maternal smoking and infant irritability and later behavioral dysregulation, results have important implications for early identification and intervention with at-risk offspring.

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