Infantile colic, maternal smoking and infant feeding at 5 weeks of ageShow others and affiliations
2008 (English)In: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, ISSN 1403-4948, E-ISSN 1651-1905, Vol. 36, no 3, p. 284-291Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Background: Many parents seek help from health professionals because of their infants' persistent crying in the early months. The aetiology of this condition, often labelled ``infantile colic'', is still unclear. Aims: To assess whether smoking during pregnancy, and/or smoking at infant age 5 weeks, is associated with infantile colic, and to describe how feeding at infant age 5 weeks and smoking are related to colic. Methods: This was a community-based study, with telephone interviews in late pregnancy, and at infant age 5 weeks, covering 1,625 mother—infant dyads, i.e. 86% of the eligible population. Results: Daily maternal smoking in pregnancy was related to subsequent colic, with an age-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.74 (95% confidence interval 1.08—2.82). In the multivariate model, the OR was largely unaltered. The association between smoking at infant age 5 weeks and colic did not reach statistical significance. The subgroups based on smoking and infant feeding were small, but the results suggest that exclusive breast-feeding was protective against colic, including for infants of smoking mothers. Conclusions: This study presents yet another argument why smoking in pregnancy should be discouraged — some cases of infantile colic may be avoided. With regard to mothers who are not able to give up smoking, the results add some support for the conclusion that if a mother is worried about colic, she certainly should not refrain from breast-feeding even if she smokes.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2008. Vol. 36, no 3, p. 284-291
Keywords [en]
Breast-feeding, Colic, crying, human, infant, milk, pregnancy, smoking
National Category
Medical and Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-4127DOI: 10.1177/1403494807086981ISI: 000256236600010PubMedID: 18519298Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-42649089093Local ID: 7339OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-4127DiVA, id: diva2:1400952
2020-02-282020-02-282024-01-19Bibliographically approved