Smoking can cause gestational diabetes

Smoking during pregnancy is one of the greatest risks for the mother and the fetus.

A team of internationally renowned scientists and doctors have discovered that smoking during pregnancy not only is it harmful to the embryo, but it can also increase the risk that a woman may contract gestational diabetes mellitus.

Development gestational diabetes It can bring complications during the pregnancy process, for example; cesarean deliveries or macrosomia, which are larger than normal babies.

The head of the research team, Dr. Yael Bar-Zeev of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Together with the collaboration of Dr. Haile Zelalem and Iliana Chertok of the University of Ohio, they were the main authors of the investigation of the discovery.

Smoking during pregnancy, a great risk for both the mother and the fetus.

Dr. Bar-Zeev and his team carried out a scientific analysis on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States. To carry out this study; tested around 222.408 women who gave birth between 2009 and 2015, of which about 5,3% of them were diagnosed with gestational diabetes.

The researchers were able to discover that pregnant women who smoke the same number of cigarettes on the day just before the pregnancy process have almost a 50% higher risk of developing gestational diabetes and that women who reduce the number of cigarettes they still have a 22% risk compared to women who are not smokers or who even quit about two years ago.

The habit of smoking during pregnancy It is considered one of the most important risk factors with respect to the development of the embryo inside the woman's womb. In the United States, 10.7% of women smoke during their pregnancy or may be exposed to cigarette smoke.