Paternal smoking increases the risk of miscarriage: research

Pregnant women whose partners are smokers may face higher risks of miscarriage, according to recent Chinese research.

Conducted by the Research Institute of the National Health Commission, the research was based on data of 5.8 million non-smoking pregnant women and their partners, who participated in China's free pre-pregnancy checkups from 2010 to 2016.

After the follow-up research of pre-pregnancy, early pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes, researchers found that pregnant women whose partners smoke are 17 percent more likely to miscarry than those with non-smoking partners. The risk of miscarriage increases as the amount of paternal smoking increases.

For women with non-smoking partners, the overall rate of miscarriages was 2.38 percent, while for women whose partners smoke, the overall rate of miscarriages was 2.92 percent.

The research also showed that when would-be fathers quit smoking before or just after the pregnancy, the miscarriage rate decreased.

Ma Xu, the leading researcher, said tobacco control at home needs to be emphasized to ensure maternal health. He also recommended that husbands quit smoking during pregnancy.

The research was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.