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Excerpts from Butt out for babies

By SARAH DENT, Herald Sun [05/25/99]

Some women deliberately smoke while pregnant to reduce the size of their babies and ease birth pains, the Australian Medical Association says.

Shocking cases of women putting the health and lives of their unborn children at risk have outraged doctors.

Women are reportedly ignoring medical advice on the harmful effects of smoking, saying they will do anything to relieve the pain of childbirth.

"One yelled 'yippee' when told her baby would be smaller if she didn't give up smoking," a medical source said.

"Another said she didn't want to give up smoking because she would put on weight and she was going to be big enough from the pregnancy."

AMA president Dr David Brand told the Herald Sun women who deliberately smoked during pregnancy were criminally irresponsible.

He warned they were opening themselves up to being sued by their children.

"Given the proven relationship between smoking and problems with babies, if those sorts of things happen it would be an appalling outcome but I think children could seek some sort of action in court," Dr Brand said.

"Some pregnant women are smoking to try to get smaller babies. Some do it to have smaller babies so they are not in as much pain."

Studies have found women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to miscarry, pass toxins from cigarette smoke through breast milk to their baby and provide less-oxygenated blood to their child.

Babies born to women smokers have a 25-50 per cent higher rate of infant death and are more likely to die from SIDS.

Prof. Judith Lumley, from La Trobe University's Centre for Mothers and Children's Health, told the AMA conference urine tests had shown up to 49 per cent of women who said they had stopped smoking during pregnancy lied.

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