Giving up smoking during pregnancy ‘lessens birth risks’

A new study has shown that mothers who give up smoking during their pregnancy can decrease their babies' risk of suffering from health problems.

The University of Southampton has analysed data from more than 50,000 pregnancies, revealing that those who stopped smoking while pregnant gave birth to children with similar average birthweights to those that had never smoked.

It was previously known that smoking during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of a child having a low birthweight, as well as issues such as premature birth, brain damage and congenital abnormalities.

However, this is the first time it has been shown that quitting smoking at this late stage can have a beneficial effect.

Professor Nick Macklon, from the university's department of obstetrics and gynaecology, said: "We hope that our research will provide additional encouragement to mothers-to-be to give up cigarettes."

According to data from Action on Smoking and Health, the habit causes around 90 percent of UK lung cancer deaths, as well as 80 percent of bronchitis and emphysema fatalities.