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Infantile colic, maternal smoking and infant feeding at 5 weeks of age

Division of General Practice, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, Sweden, Catarina.canivet{at}med.lu.se

Per-Olof Östergren

Division of Social and Global Health, Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Sweden

Iréne L. Jakobsson

Division of Paediatrics, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Sweden

Elisabeth Dejin-Karlsson

Faculty of Health and Society, Department of Nursing, Malmö University, Sweden

Barbro M. Hagander

Division of General Practice, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, Sweden

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.

Key Words: Breast-feeding • colic • crying • human • infant • milk • pregnancy • smoking

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 36, No. 3, 284-291 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1403494807086981


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