Smoking and SIDS Risk

If you smoke cigarettes, you are not alone. One in four women in Oklahoma smoke cigarettes.

Babies whose mothers smoke during pregnancy are at 2-3 times higher risk for SIDS. A baby exposed to second hand smoke after birth is also at increased risk for SIDS and other respiratory illness.

If you are pregnant, may become pregnant or have a baby, quitting smoking and not allowing your baby to be near cigarette smoke are the best gifts you can give yourself and your child. Eliminate cigarette smoke from your baby’s life today.

Free help to quit smoking is available in Oklahoma! Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669).

Mothers who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy increase the risk of SIDS  threetimes, despite the birth weight of the baby. The risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked per day. Some studies have shown that cigarette smoke in the baby’s environment after birth also increases SIDS risk. The risk has been shown to increase with either the number of cigarettes smoked by the parents or the number of hours the infant spends in the presence of smokers.  

Reference: The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)