Health outcomes of smoking during pregnancy and the postpartum period: an umbrella review

Tuba Saygin Avsar, Hugh McLeod, Louise Jackson

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Abstract

Background: Smoking during pregnancy (SDP) and the postpartum period has serious health outcomes for the mother and infant. Although some systematic reviews have shown the impact of maternal SDP on particular conditions, a systematic review examining the overall health outcomes has not been published. Hence, this paper aimed to conduct an umbrella review on this issue.

Methods: A systematic review of systematic reviews (umbrella review) was conducted according to a protocol submitted to PROSPERO (CRD42018086350). CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CRD Database and HMIC databases were searched to include all studies published in English by 31 December 2017, except those focusing exclusively on low-income countries. Two researchers conducted the study selection and quality assessment independently.

Results: The review included 64 studies analysing the relationship between maternal SDP and 46 health conditions. The highest increase in risks was found for sudden infant death syndrome, asthma, stillbirth, low birth weight and obesity amongst infants. The impact of SDP was associated with the number of cigarettes consumed. According to the causal link analysis, five mother-related and ten infant-related conditions had a causal link with SDP. In addition, some studies reported protective impacts of SDP on pre-eclampsia, hyperemesis gravidarum and skin defects on infants. The review identified important gaps in the literature regarding the dose-response association, exposure window, postnatal smoking.

Conclusions: The review shows that maternal SDP is not only associated with short-term health conditions (e.g. preterm birth, oral clefts) but also some which can have life-long detrimental impacts (e.g. obesity, intellectual impairment).

Implications: This umbrella review provides a comprehensive analysis of the overall health impacts of SDP. The study findings indicate that while estimating health and cost outcomes of SDP, long-term health impacts should be considered as well as short-term effects since studies not including the long-term outcomes would underestimate the magnitude of the issue. Also, interventions for pregnant women who smoke should consider the impact of reducing smoking due to health benefits on mothers and infants, and not solely cessation.
Original languageEnglish
Article number254
JournalBMC pregnancy and childbirth
Volume21
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 26 Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
No funding was received specifically for this review. It was conducted as part of the lead author’s PhD research at the University of Birmingham, which was funded by the Turkish Ministry of Education. Hugh McLeod’s time is supported by the National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration West (NIHR ARC West) at University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Health outcomes
  • Partner smoking
  • Smoking during pregnancy
  • Systematic review
  • Umbrella review

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Obstetrics and Gynaecology

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