International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

Mothers-to-be who smoke put their child at greater risk of developing mental health problems, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Bristol in the UK wrote in their study, called Maternal Smoking and Child Psychological Problems: Disentangling Causal and Noncausal Effects, that children with mothers who smoked during pregnancy were more likely to experience hyperactivity, conduct/externalising problems and peer problems.

"The results of these studies support the need for action to promote tobacco-control activities that would mitigate tobacco exposure throughout child development, starting in the pre-natal period," the study authors wrote.

A recent study carried out on 400,000 British schoolchildren found that babies born just one week early are more likely to develop learning disabilities and more serious conditions, such as autism or deafness.

Some 8.4 per cent of pre-term children - those born at less than 40 weeks - suffered from a learning disability compared with just 4.7 per cent of those born at full-term, the study revealed.

Posted by Martine Ward