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Smoking and Pregnancy
Possible Effects
'Most women want to help their unborn children and to avoid
doing anything which could harm them. Smoking cigarettes is among
those influences which might adversely affect the baby and which
the mother could herself control.'(Source: Smoking OR Health)
- Think carefully about the above statements. Do you agree
or disagree with them? Why?
- Write down two ways that you think a mother's smoking
might affect a baby.
Effects on Birth Weight
You will need page R3. Smoking during pregnancy can affect the
birth weight of babies. Table 6 gives the weight of 29 babies at
birth, with the number of cigarettes smoked by the mother.
| |
Cigarettes
smoked per day by mother |
| 0 |
1-5 |
6-10 |
11-15 |
16-20 |
21-25 |
26-30 |
Baby's
birth
weight
(kg) |
3.60 |
4.56 |
2.83 |
2.83 |
3.29 |
2.83 |
2.52 |
| 3.23 |
3.32 |
3.14 |
2.38 |
3.18 |
2.52 |
2.27 |
| 4.37 |
3.94 |
3.32 |
2.52 |
3.23 |
3.06 |
| 3.12 |
3.31 |
| 3.71 |
3.32 |
| 3.20 |
| 4.03 |
| 3.40 |
| 3.98 |
| 3.18 |
| Total |
34.83 |
18.45 |
|
7.73 |
9.70 |
|
7.85 |
| Mean |
3.48 |
|
|
|
3.23 |
|
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(Source: H. Graham (1977))
Table 6 - Cigarettes smoked per day by mother and baby's birth
weight in kg.
- Copy and complete the table.
- Plot the points from Table 6 on Figure 5 on R3.
(The baby weighing 3.60 kg, whose mother smoked no
cigarettes, has been plotted for you.) Use the 'Class
mid-marks' on the horizontal axis. e.g. Mothers smoking
1-5 cigarettes are plotted at 3 cigarettes per day. A
diagram like this is called a SCATTER DIAGRAM or
SCATTERGRAM.
- Plot the mean weights for each category of cigarettes
smoked.
- Is there an upward or downward trend in birth weight as
mothers smoke more cigarettes per day?
'Mothers who smoke have babies which are, on average about
200g Oust under 1/2lb) lighter than mothers
who do not smoke.'(Smoking OR Health)
- Give three other factors which may affect a baby's birth
weight.
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