from eclinicalmedicine
SIDS—the sudden unexplained death of an infant—has previously been linked to maternal smoking during pregnancy. Some studies also suggest prenatal alcohol exposure can increase risk of SIDS. Now, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health provides a look at how SIDS risk is increased by the combined use of tobacco and alcohol by a pregnant woman. The study shows children born to mothers who both drank and smoked beyond the first trimester of pregnancy have a twelve-fold risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome compared to children unexposed or exposed to only one of the risks. The report appears in EclinicalMedicine, an online journal published by the Lancet.