CINCINNATI, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. and European researchers found women who smoked during pregnancy were nearly 2.5 times more likely to have babies with oral clefts.
Dr. Gary Shaw of the March of Dimes and colleagues from institutes in Norway, Holland and Texas, studied serum samples collected between 2003 and 2005 from pregnant women enrolled in the California Expanded AFP -- alpha fetoprotein -- program. The researchers measured the levels of cotinine -- a metabolite of nicotine -- to determine whether the mothers smoked during pregnancy. They found that women who smoked during pregnancy were nearly 2.5 times more likely to have babies with oral clefts.