MEDIA RELEASE
Education for Change
Health Leaders Urge Action on Fetal Tobacco Syndrome
Each year more than 18,000 unborn babies are exposed to poisonous tobacco chemicals in the womb, a forum considering the
effects of fetal tobacco syndrome heard today. Fetal tobacco syndrome is the term used to describe fetal damage caused
by exposure to smoking in pregnancy.
The forum was attended by twenty-five leaders from fertility, midwifery, obstetrics, neonatology, paediatrics, general
practice and public health services. It was organised by Education for Change, a Christchurch-based provider of
health-funded health education services.
Education for Change director Stephanie Cowan said that the chemicals in tobacco smoke crossed the placenta, damaging it
in the process.
“Tobacco-exposed placentas do not work as well as they should, meaning that the baby’s supply of food and oxygen is
restricted. As a result the pregnancy may end in miscarriage or stillbirth or the baby may be born early and struggle to
survive.”
She said that because tobacco-exposed babies were used to coping with less oxygen in utero, they were at higher risk of
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and asphyxia once born.
“For example, a tobacco-exposed baby has a blunted arousal or wake-up response. Once born, it may not sense danger if
its face becomes covered. It may not seek oxygen as it became used to reduced oxygen in the womb. Whereas a baby not
exposed to tobacco during pregnancy will be protected by a normal arousal response and sigh, swallow or turn its head to
increase its oxygen supply.”
Stephanie Cowan said the forum was about getting fetal tobacco syndrome out of hiding and taken seriously.
“Fetal tobacco syndrome causes a whole raft of problems – infertility, placental problems, pregnancy complications,
intra-uterine growth restriction, preterm births, stillbirths, sudden infant death syndrome, bronchioloitis, asthma,
glue ear, hospital admission, learning and behavioural difficulties and more.
“It is the main preventable cause of adverse outcomes for pregnancy and child health. Despite this, it is treated more
as a social issue than a health one, by parents and health professionals alike.”
She said that following the forum, Education for Change and health groups would focus on raising awareness of fetal
tobacco syndrome and supporting parents to be smokefree.
“This forum is only the first step. We want to see fetal tobacco syndrome having a profile to match its place as the
number one way to protect the life and health of children, with associated increased resourcing. ”
ENDS