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Pregnancy is a vulnerable time for women's health and tobacco smoke harms mothers and their unborn children. In developing countries, it is rare for women to smoke during their pregnancy, but their exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy is much higher, according to a recent Demographic and Health Survey study conducted in 30 countries. under development and published in Tobacco Control.
Exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirth, birth defects and low birth weight. Governments have introduced "smoke-free" laws in response to these dangers, such as bans on smoking in public places.
In many Western countries, where these laws have been implemented with public awareness and support, social norms have changed. Smoking is not only less visible in public places and workplaces, but it is also reduced in private homes and cars. This has resulted in less damage due to exposure to second-hand smoke in many developed countries. For example, hospital admissions due to asthma in children have decreased considerably.
Unfortunately, smoking in public and private indoor spaces is still common in many developing countries. This exposure poses health risks to vulnerable people such as children and pregnant women. Our study, based on national estimates for 30 countries, is the first to indicate the extent to which pregnant women are exposed to second-hand smoke in developing countries. We also estimated the impact of this exposure on stillbirths. Our study was based on self-reported surveys of pregnant women, which means that there is a risk of underestimation – the actual numbers for women exposed to second-hand smoke could be much higher.
Used smokers and stillbirths
Armenia, Indonesia In Jordan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, more than 50 percent of pregnant women reported exposure to second-hand smoke. These countries are closely followed by Egypt, Pakistan and Sierra Leone, where more than 40% of all pregnant women were exposed to second-hand smoke, almost daily. In Pakistan alone, this exposure led to approximately 17,000 stillbirths per year
In 13 of the 30 countries we studied, exposure to second-hand smoke was 10-fold higher than active smoking among pregnant women and therefore much more involved in the number of stillbirths. In Pakistan, only 1% of stillbirths were attributed to women actively smoking during pregnancy, but for second-hand smoke, this figure was 7%, largely because of the high number of pregnant women exposed to tobacco smoke. .
Rural networks can help prevent deaths from indoor pollution
Our results suggest that smoking is a key contributor to indoor air pollution in homes in developing countries. Its impact on stillbirths is comparable to that of the use of biomass for cooking and heating, which is another major source of indoor air pollution.
In many developing countries, cultural taboos about female smoking have discouraged women from getting in the habit, but smoking among men is still prevalent. But awareness of the harms of exposure to second-hand smoke is often lower in developing countries and in many patriarchal family structures, women may not feel comfortable with men who smoke. near. It is therefore likely that high rates of exposure to second-hand smoke during pregnancy in developing countries reflect men's smoking patterns
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