Quitting smoking in pregnancy is not easy, but there is increasing evidence that tobacco harms the health of the fetus and can lead to complications. Nicotine substitutes during pregnancy are also increasingly questioned.
A few days ago we were talking about a study that related nicotine substitutes with baby colic and new research concludes that there is not enough scientific evidence to recommend nicotine patches or gum to pregnant women.
This week, The New England Journal of Medicine publishes data from a controlled trial to assess the efficacy and safety of Prolonged use during nicotine patches during pregnancy with a standard dose (15mg for 16 hours).
This analysis has been performed by members of the Department of Primary Care of the Center for Tobacco Studies Control and the National Institute for Health Research School for Primary Care Research, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit, experts from the University of Nottingham ..., among others.
Of the 1,050 women who participated in the study, with a pregnancy between 12 and 24 weeks, approximately half (521) received nicotine therapy and the rest, a placebo.
When comparing the data of the two groups, it was observed that there were no significant differences in the number of women who had quit and those who had not until the time of giving birth: in the first group, 9.4% of pregnant women had quit tobacco in front of 7.6% of women who had received a placebo.
However, few participants adequately complied with the treatment: only 7.2% and 2.8% of the women in each group respectively used the patches for more than a month.
Specialists point out that the first recommendations that should be made to pregnant women who smoke at the beginning of their pregnancy are non-medication measures, such as drinking more fluids or exercising more and psychological behavioral therapy.
But the nicotine patch remains a risk factor because it generates vasoconstriction, although it does not have other harmful substances that, in addition to this, have cigarettes.
In short, it seems that as far as possible, nicotine substitutes should be avoided during pregnancy, as they could cause congenital malformations in the baby, along with colic and other negative effects.
That's why experts remember that substitutes are only "less bad" than tobacco during pregnancy, and ask for more studies to assess its efficacy and safety, while claiming other aids and therapies to get pregnant women to quit smoking.
