Pregnant Women Who Smoke More Have Less Affection Toward their Unborn Babies

Expecting mothers who do not feel a strong emotional connection with  their unborn babies smoke more than pregnant women smokers who have an attachment to their yet-to-born babies, a new research shows.

Researchers examined participants of Behavior and Mood in Babies and Mothers (BAM BAM) study that reviewed smoking habits of moms-to-be. "It would make sense psychologically that women who feel less attached to their fetus are going to smoke more, because they aren't necessarily thinking about the repercussions," said Susanna Magee, assistant professor of family medicine at Brown University.

The BAM BAM study participants were told to give information on their weekly smoking practice. Then the researchers calculated the saliva levels of cotinine, a metabolic byproduct of nicotine use that differs from person to person depending on their tobacco usage. They studied saliva levels of cotinine during 30 and 35 weeks of pregnancy and a day after childbirth.

Apart from the study review, the researchers interviewed 58 pregnant smokers. They were asked questions based on the Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (MFAS) at weeks 30 and 35 of pregnancy. MFAS is a standardized estimation of expecting mothers' feelings about their fetuses.

Further, on the basis of MFAS scores, Magee and co-author Laura Stroud divided the women into two groups of 30 and 28. They found that women with less attachment toward their unborn babies had high levels of cotnine during 30 weeks of pregnancy and a day after delivery. It also found that these women smoked more number of cigarettes every day.

"This study is building a case that maternal-fetal attachment, while it may be a more warm and fuzzy concept, actually has cold hard implications for health outcomes," research associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior Stroud said.

Previous studies also showed that women less connected to their fetuses smoked more. But this study presented the findings with precise statistical evidence. This mean that women who feel connection towards their unborn will gradually smoke less out of concern than those who do not feel any connection at all, according to Magee. "Quitting is really important and as a family doctor I can't stress enough that I think the ideal thing is for women to quit, but this speaks to cutting down also."

According to the studies done before, 80 percent of women smokers continue the habit even during pregnancy. This results in 500,000 fetuses being exposed to tobacco in utero every year in the U.S. "It's very, very hard for moms to quit," Stroud said. "Having another way to get at smoking beyond the typical techniques via increasing attachment may be another path to helping moms quit. I think that's very exciting."