The risk of SIDS doubles with one cigarette a day during pregnancy

SEATTLE– If no woman smoked during her pregnancy, that would save 800 lives a year. This is one of the discoveries of a unique collaboration between the Seattle Children's Hospital and Microsoft.

Although it's probably not surprising that pregnant women do not smoke, we now know just how dangerous a single cigarette is for an unborn baby.

Dr. Tatiana Anderson is the lead author of the Seattle Children's Research Institute study.

"Any smoking, any amount of tobacco, even a single cigarette can double your chances of a sudden and unexpected death of your baby," Anderson said.

This is an amazing discovery of a research that leveraged Seattle Children's medical expertise and Microsoft's data science. Their collaboration was inspired by a very personal story.

Microsoft data analysis chief John Kahan and his wife Heather lost their son Aaron to SIDS. Kahans raise funds and educate their customers. Nearly two years ago, John's employees volunteered to help.

They accessed the Centers for Disease Control's public database, which has proven to be a treasure trove of data on 20 million births in the United States. It includes every child born between 2007 and 2011, the largest population ever studied.

On Monday, they published their first results in the journal Pediatrics.

"It's very difficult to stop smoking, but I think one of the ideas is that every cigarette counts," said Juan Lavista, senior director of Data Science at Microsoft. "So, even if they can reduce, it will still be useful, quitting is much better, but cutting back still helps."

For women who continued to smoke during pregnancy, quitting in the third trimester reduced the risk of SIDS by 12%. Quitting smoking was associated with a 23% reduction in risk. They also found that women who smoked in the three months preceding their pregnancy were at higher risk.

"If you're thinking of becoming pregnant, you need to quit before getting pregnant," Anderson said.

Microsoft and Seattle Children's also study other links with sudden infant death, including prenatal care and the difference between SIDS and US states.