Smoking Pregnant Woman (Photo : Reuters)
Unborn babies whose mothers continuously smoke while pregnant were found to be touching their mouths more often than those whose mothers do not smoke, pre-natal ultrasound proved.
The unborn babies of a smoking mother were seen to be moving a lot more than those with non-smoking moms. These fetuses were seen moving through an ultrasound. This discovery was posted in a pilot ultrasound study which was published in the Acta Paediatrica medical journal this week, according to The Guardian.
This study which was held at Durham and Lancaster Universities in England showed that out of 20 pregnant women, 69 percent of their unborn babies are touching their mouths and a 58 percent increase in movement of the mouth.
Normally, as the fetus gets older, the mouth and other movements naturally decrease. But in the case of those unborn babies whose mothers continuously smoke show a higher rate in movements. This also suggests that their central nervous system may not develop very well compared to the fetus of non-smoking mothers.
Smoking while pregnant has always been known to create complications to the development of the fetus. This new study's objective is to show how the unborn babies react to the actions of their mothers while they are still inside the womb.
With the use of a high definition 4D ultrasound, Dr. Nadja Reissland, a researcher of Durham University in the United Kingdom, investigated a one-minute hands and mouth movements of unborn babies of non-smoking and smoking mothers, ABC News reported.
Reissland explained that stressed pregnant women are likely to have more fetal movements since it also affects and stresses the fetus.
"These results point to the fact that nicotine exposure per se has an effect on fetal development over and above the effects of stress and depression," explained Reissland.
