Beeld: Getty Images
It is well known that smoking is bad during pregnancy. New research indicates that children of mothers who continue to smoke during pregnancy have measurably smaller brains at age 10.
Despite all the warnings, in 2021 eight percent of pregnant women in the Netherlands still smoked at some point during their pregnancy. This is evident from figures from the Trimbos Institute. Nearly 5 percent of them smoked throughout the pregnancy. And that percentage has remained the same for about 5 years. Women with a low income and low education are more likely to continue smoking with a baby in their womb.
But lighting such a cigarette is not without consequences, according to recently published research by scientists at Erasmus MC. Your child can have negative consequences long after birth. A lot of research has already been done, it was already known that smoking pregnant women are more likely to have a miscarriage or a baby that is born prematurely. At birth, these babies often weigh less and have a smaller head circumference.
Later Consequences
Less research has been done on the consequences for these children later in life, simply because it is much more difficult to investigate. The results of the Rotterdam study are part of the Generation R study. During that study, children in Rotterdam are followed for years in their development and health. It also contained information about smoking pregnant women. Their children were then examined when they were 9 to 11 years old.
The results are shocking: the children not only had a smaller brain volume, but also less white matter (this substance makes connections between your brain areas) and gray matter (which contains your brain cells). In addition, there is a difference in the depth of cerebral convolutions (increase in the folded cerebral cortex).
Behavioral problems
The study did not investigate the extent to which these children really experience problems with their cognitive functions, but a conclusion can be drawn from this, says Runyu Zou, epidemiologist and author of the article. “In general, you can say that children with smaller brains have a lower IQ and more behavioral problems.
Stop before you get pregnant
There were no differences between children of mothers who never smoked or who stopped early in pregnancy. This is because the further development of the brain only starts later. “Even if a woman has smoked for the first 10 weeks, it still makes sense to quit,” says Zou.
Nevertheless, Corine Verhoeven, professor of obstetrics science at the University of Nottingham, advises to stop smoking before you become pregnant. And then for both partners. “It is precisely at the beginning of the pregnancy that all the important organs are formed. If you want to have children: first stop smoking, then use contraception.”
Lasting Differences
It is not yet possible to say whether the differences in the brains improve over the course of the children’s lives. However, Zou and his colleagues would like to repeat the study if Generation R participants are adolescents and young adults. So just a little patience…
Bron: NRCTrimbos Institute
–
