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Show Article points to dangers of mothers smoking Dr. Jay R. Zabriskie, son of Mr. and Mrs. Howard Zabriskie Zabris-kie of Spanish Fork, former residents of Springville, and a grandson of the late Mr. and Mrs. Alva Zabriskie of this city, recently had an article published on the effects of smoking on mothers-to-be. The article appeared in the April issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology, official journal of the American College of Obstetricians Ob-stetricians and Gynecologists. Dr. Zabriskie, a junior fellow of the college, reported on a study made of 2,000 consecutive consecu-tive births at Tripler Army Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii, between be-tween November 1960, and May 1961. An Army Captain, he is now stationed at the Army Hospital, Hospit-al, Fort Carson, Colorado. He said mothers who had given birth to twins were omitted in the study. On the basis of the study, Dr. 'Zabriskie recommended that smoking be curtailed during dur-ing pregnancy in cases of women wo-men who have repeatedly had premature babies or miscarriages. miscar-riages. He reported that among 2000 mothers, there were 957 smokers smok-ers and 1,043 non-smokers, with the following results: Women who smoked during pregnancy had babies averaging averag-ing one-half pound less than babies of those who did not smoke during pregnancy. Prematurity was two and a half times more frequent among mothers -who- smoked. Women who smoked had a "slightly higher incidence of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage)." (miscar-riage)." - No real difference was found in weight gained during pregnancy preg-nancy between the two groups, nor in other factors studied. "It appears that the effect of smoking upon the fetus (unborn infant) is a result of smoking during pregnancy, rather than due to long term or chronic change." |