Will smoking during pregnancy increase a baby's risk of strabismus?

[Muscoy]

Will smoking during pregnancy increase a baby's risk of strabismus?

[Whitwell]

It is said that smoking during pregnancy had a 26% greater chance of having a baby with strabismus than mothers that did not smoke during pregnancy. Researchers also found that the number of cigarettes smoked further increased the risk of babies having this visual problem. For example women that smoked between five and nine cigarettes had a 38% greater risk of having a baby with strabismus than non-smokers while mothers that smoked 10 or more cigarettes had a 90% greater risk. As you can see the more cigarettes a mother smokes, the greater the child's risk of being cross eyed. This shows how important it is to cut out cigarettes during pregnancy, or to reduce the number smoked if quitting isn't a possibility.

[Muse]

A new research suggests that for each cigarette a pregnant woman lights up each day, she raises her baby's risk of strabismus by 5 percent. Further, the effect of smoking on the debilitating eye disorder may become more potent later in pregnancy. But strabismus is a common condition, affecting some 2 to 3 percent of children, not much is known about its causes. Exposure in the womb to harmful substances may be one cause of strabismus. Nicotine and other substances in tobacco, alcohol and caffeine all affect the brain in some way.

[Wibaux]

For each cigarette a pregnant woman lights up each day, she raises her baby's risk of strabismus by 5 percent.Further, the effect of smoking on the debilitating eye disorder may become more potent later in pregnancy.Smoking is a major risk factor to having a premature and small baby. It has also been linked to "cross eye" or strabismus (both esotropia and exotropia) in babies. More recently a Danish study quantified the risk of having a cross eyed baby to 90% for mothers who smoked 10 or more cigarettes per day.