[Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and malformations]

Abstract

While cigarette smoking continues to increase among women, the influence of maternal smoking during pregnancy on the prevalence of malformations has been widely investigated over the past 30 years. Although many women discontinue smoking during pregnancy, the fetus is still often exposed during first weeks of gestation, including embryological development, raising questions about the teratogenic effect of smoking. We review the literature on this topic highlighting methodological issues. The overall prevalence of malformations does not seem to be increased among offspring of women who smoked during pregnancy. A mild but significant association was found between several specific malformations (oral cleft, gastroschisis and craniosynostosis) and maternal smoking. Though the odds ratios were very low for these associations, the change in absolute number, especially for facial clefts, is important due to high prevalence of smoking during pregnancy. These findings should be taken into account in preconceptional counselling.