Maternal smoking habits and Down's syndrome

Two series of pregnancies were studied to investigate the relationship between maternal smoking and the risk of fetal Down' s syndrome. In the first series, ascertained in the 1960s, in which smoking habits were determined after the outcome of pregnancy was known, the proportion of smokers (47 per cent) among the 461 women whose pregnancies ended in the birth of an infant with Down' s syndrome was similar to that in the 461 controls (46 per cent) who had pregnancies affected by other congenital disorders. In the second series, ascertained between 1973 and 1984, smoking habits were determined by measurement of cotinine in antenatal serum samples that were routinely collected and stored or, if a serum sample was not available, from information in the antenatal notes. In this series, the proportion of smokers (14 per cent) among the 91 women who had pregnancies associated with Down' s syndrome was lower than that among 413 controls (19 per cent), though this was not statistically significant. Collectively, our results provide no evidence for an association between fetal Down' s syndrome and smoking. Other published studies found a deficit of smokers among women who had pregnancies associated with Down' s syndrome. This may be partly due to some studies not taking adequate account of maternal age (older women are more likely to have had a Down' s syndrome pregnancy but are less likely to be smokers) and partly due to the greater tendency for positive findings to be published than negative ones.