Smoking During Pregnancy Damages Unborn Lungs

From Reuters News March 22, 2000, is a report on a new study that shows that mothers who smoke during pregnancy are not only damaging their own lungs but also the lungs of the unborn. The lead author, Dr. Frank D. Gilliland and colleagues at the University of Southern California School of Medicine in Los Angeles write in the April issue of the medical journal Thorax commented, "Exposure to maternal smoking (in the womb) is independently associated with decreased lung function in children of school age,"  
Results of the study show that children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy have signs of impaired lung function that is not caused by exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.  The study also suggested that these children may have a higher than average risk of lung cancer and heart disease in adulthood.
In case additional incentive was needed, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that a recent study shows that smokers are four times more likely than nonsmokers to get life-threatening blood infections or meningitis from a type of bacteria that usually causes pneumonia.  The researchers found that smokers were 4.1 times more likely than nonsmokers to get these infections, and nonsmokers who were often exposed to cigarette smoke were 2 times more likely than people who did not have such exposure.