According to experts, smoke exposure during pregnancy damages a baby’s blood pressure control, which may explain why such babies’ risk of cot death is higher. In fact, maternal smoking remains one of the biggest risk factors for cot death.

Sweden’s Karolinksa Institute teams found smoke-exposed babies had abnormal surges in blood pressure, even when sleeping undisturbed in their cots. These surges put extra demand on the heart, making it pump faster and harder. This study suggests damage to the circulation may be a factor in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), although it set out to look at the effects of smoking on the newborn rather than cot death.

Dr Gary Cohen and his team studied 36 newborn babies – 17 of whom had mothers who smoked during the pregnancy. When they examined the babies they found the ones that had been exposed to cigarette smoke showed abnormal heart rate and blood pressure responses. And these abnormal responses got worse throughout their first year of life.

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