New evidence has supported the proposed link between smoking and an increased risk of stillbirth, researchers claim today.
A Swedish team studied stillbirths occurring during the second pregnancy among a total of 526,691 women over an 18-year period.
They recorded smoking habits during the first and second pregnancies, as well as other factors which are considered to raise the risk of stillbirths.
The scientists concluded that smoking between the first and second pregnancies results in a significantly increased risk of stillbirth.
Among heavy smokers who smoked more than ten cigarettes a day during both pregnancies, the rate of stillbirth was highest, at 4.1 out of every 1,000 women.
Other factors which affect the risk include lower maternal age (under 19 years of age) or higher maternal age (over 35 years old) and long inter-pregnancy periods.
Researcher Lovisa Hogberg from the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm said: "Smoking during pregnancy is a preventable cause of stillbirth, it is therefore important to encourage all pregnant women to quit."
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