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Possible Teratogenic Effect of Cigarette Smoking

Abstract

IT is generally accepted that maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion1, low birth weight and stillbirth or neonatal death2. Moreover, even at the age of 7, children of mothers who smoked in pregnancy are, on average, smaller and slightly retarded in reading ability compared with their contemporaries whose mothers did not smoke3. These associations have been shown to be independent of birth rank, maternal age and social class.

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References

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FEDRICK, J., ALBERMAN, E. & GOLDSTEIN, H. Possible Teratogenic Effect of Cigarette Smoking. Nature 231, 529–530 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/231529a0

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