Daily HealthBeat Tip

Second-hand smoke, first-hand danger

From the Department of Health and Human Services, I'm Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Babies in the womb can't smoke, but they can be harmed by smoke. Damage can show up in their genes. And even if their moms don't actually smoke, they can be harmed by second-hand smoke.

Dr. Stephen Grant of the University of Pittsburgh studied this. His research in the journal BMC Pediatrics was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Grant found the fetus faced as much risk from second-hand smoke as it did if the mom herself smoked.

Grant says women should realize this:

"Women who quit feel like they've done part of the work in protecting their babies. They tend to discount the fact that they may continue to be exposed to passive tobacco smoke." [10 seconds]

To protect their babies, mothers should avoid places that allow smoking, and should ask friends or family members who smoke to do it someplace else.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: October 12, 2005

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