FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ) — According to researchers at Duke University Medical Center, a woman’s exposure to secondhand smoke prior to conception, can harm her baby once she becomes pregnant.
An experiment on lab rats shows that tobacco smoke can impact fetal brain development, at even the earliest of stages.
The areas affected include learning, memory, and emotion.
Experts say their findings have significant implications for public health, and display the importance of avoiding secondhand smoke exposure not only during pregnancy, but now prior to pregnancy.
They add that all women of childbearing age should avoid contact with tobacco smoke.
