Premature babies of mothers who smoke particularly vulnerable to SIDS

New research at the University of Calgary shows premature infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy may be at higher risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) than preemies whose mothers did not smoke. This is the first study to investigate the effect of low oxygen and cigarette smoke exposure on infants' heart rate and breathing responses. “Smoking during pregnancy has two very serious effects with respect to SIDS,” says Dr. Shabih Hasan, a neonatologist and Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary. “Not only does it raise the likelihood of a mother having a preterm baby, who are already among the most vulnerable to SIDS, but it increases those infants’ susceptibility to SIDS even further.”