Breastfeeding may compensate for harmful effects of smoking during pregnancy
Breastfeeding may compensate for the harmful effects of smoking during
pregnancy on a child's brain, suggests research in the Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health.
The researchers based their findings on 570 only children from among over
3000 born at one Dutch hospital between 1975 and 1978. Details of the
smoking habits of the mothers during pregnancy and the results of maths,
spelling, and reading tests taken by the children at the age of 9 were
analysed.
How the mothers chose to feed their children was also recorded on discharge
from hospital and when their children were 9 and again when they were 25, to
ensure that recall was reliable. Children who were breastfed for only a
couple of weeks, or who were fed both breast and formula milk, were not
included in the final analysis.
Only those children whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy and who had
been bottle fed performed poorly on the school tests.
Mothers who breastfeed their children might differ from women who don't in
some way that has not been accounted for, say the authors, in a bid to
explain their findings. Or there may be some psychological aspects of
breastfeeding that might influence a child's cognitive development, they
suggest.
Alternatively, they suggest that the long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids
contained in breast milk may promote brain development and so counteract the
harmful effects of smoking on fetal development. And they conclude that
expectant mothers who smoke should be encouraged to breastfeed.
[Can breast feeding modify the adverse effects of smoking during pregnancy
on the child's cognitive development? 2003; 57: 403-4]
Magda Sachs, Breastfeeding Supporter, BfN, UK

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.478 / Virus Database: 275 - Release Date: 06/05/2003


             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html