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New research · Ophthalmology
The British journal of ophthalmology · 2d
Cohort studyThe British journal of ophthalmology · 2026

Maternal smoking during pregnancy: a risk factor for early childhood ophthalmologic conditions.

Ido Ashbell, Tomer Kerman, Nir Amitai … Erez Tsumi
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OphthalmologyCohort study

Maternal smoking in pregnancy is linked to higher risk of childhood eye conditions.

Maternal smoking during pregnancy: a risk factor for early childhood ophthalmologic conditions.

Ido Ashbell … Erez Tsumi
The British journal of ophthalmology · 2026
Background

To investigate the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and early childhood ophthalmologic conditions.

Methods

This population-based retrospective cohort study analysed data from infants born between 2014 and 2020 within a single healthcare system in Israel.

n = 778 infants
Results

smoking-exposed babies had somewhat higher odds of any eye condition

OR by subgroup · 95% CI
null = 1
any ophthalmic condition
1.15
strabismus
1.34
inflammatory and infectious diseases
1.13
any ophthalmic condition
1.16
strabismus
1.52
More results

Among 50 778 infants, 2830 (5.6%) were exposed to maternal smoking during pregnancy.

First-trimester exposure showed stronger associations with any ophthalmic condition (adjusted OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.33, p=0.034) and strabismus (adjusted OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.12 to 2.07, p=0.008).

More results

Exposure throughout pregnancy showed the strongest associations with any ophthalmic condition (adjusted OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.19 to 2.57, p=0.005), congenital anomalies (adjusted OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.01 to 3.37, p=0.045) and inflammatory/infectious diseases (adjusted OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.63, p=0.002).

Refractive errors showed no significant difference.

“
Conclusion

Maternal smoking during pregnancy, particularly in the first trimester, was associated with increased risk of multiple early childhood ophthalmologic conditions, highlighting the importance of smoking cessation during pregnancy to reduce potential risks to children's visual health.

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