Previous findings had tied mother’s smoking during pregnancy to higher rates of colic in their babies. New findings, however, say nicotine replacement therapy may also raise the risk of have a colicky baby.
Researchers of Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark reviewed interviews conducted with more than 63,000 mothers during pregnancy and six months after they had their babies.
According to the findings published in Pediatrics, women who smoked during pregnancy were 30 percent more likely to have babies with colic than mothers who didn’t use any form of nicotine.
Babies whose mothers used nicotine replacement therapy were also at a 60 percent higher risk of having colic than infants with no nicotine exposure in the womb.
The study suggests that the nicotine itself is the main agent associated with raising the risk of infantile colic in babies, said lead author Dr. Ioanna Milidou.
It is known that smoking during pregnancy is associated with serious health risks such as miscarriage, birth complications and malformations. Therefore many women think of kicking the deadly habit before getting pregnant.
Health experts recommend women who want to quit smoking for the sake of their own and their babies’ health not to use nicotine replacement therapy and choose safer techniques such as counseling and behavioral therapy or hypnosis.
SJM/TE
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