An article in Healthnotes Newswire reports that a Danish research study has examined the safety of nicotine replacement patches during pregnancy and found that the patches reduced the risk of stillbirth as compared to mothers who continued smoking during pregnancy.
In the study, the researchers concluded that there was no elevated (above average) risk of stillbirth in moms who used nicotine patches. In the study, which involved 87,032 pregnancies, there were 4.3 stillbirths per 1000 births in women who used the patches and 8 stillbirths per 1000 births in moms who smoked during pregnancy.
This is not to say that nicotine replacement therapy was risk free, however. There have been past concerns about birth defects with nicotine replacement patches, and this study did not address all such concerns. In addition, nicotine patches are contraindicated in women with some health conditions. Obviously the best choice is to quit smoking before getting pregnant, but in women who become pregnant while smoking, the study does offer evidence that the patches might be safer than continuing to smoke.
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