More than doubles the risk of heart abnormality
Smoking and being overweight during pregnancy can increase the risk of the baby being born with a heart defect, new research suggests.
A study published in the journal Heart found that babies born to overweight smokers were more than twice as likely to have a congenital heart defect compared with those born to women who either smoked or were overweight while pregnant, but not both.
Congenital heart abnormalities are among the most common defects found at birth, affecting around eight in every 1000 babies, but a likely cause is only found in fifteen per cent of cases.
Researchers from the University of Groningen analysed data on nearly 800 live and stillborn babies and aborted foetuses with congenital heart defects.
This was then compared with data on 322 babies and foetuses with chromosomal abnormalities, but without any heart defects.
After taking into account other factors such as the mother's alcohol consumption and educational attainment which could influence the results, the scientists found that the combination of being overweight and smoking increased the risk of the baby being born with a congenital heart defect by 2.5 per cent.
Women who were overweight were defined as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or more.
The risk of specific heart defects which reduce the blood flow from the heart ventricles to the pulmonary artery or aorta was more than tripled in babies born to overweight mothers who smoked while pregnant.
The researchers said the findings suggest that an imbalance in cholesterol levels might be behind the effect as its already known that both obesity and smoking can independently lead to lower levels of "good" cholesterol and higher levels of "bad" cholesterol.
"Maternal and overweight smoking may have a synergistic adverse effect on the development of the foetal heart," the researchers wrote.
Overweight women who wish to become pregnant should be strongly encouraged to stop smoking and lose weight."
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