Can asthma in a child be caused by smoking when the child was in the womb?

Yes: There have been several studies over the years showing that smoking during pregnancy, though not directly inducing asthma, causes lower birth weight in infants and likely poor lung development, which then increases the risk of asthma in those children.

Yes: Women who smoke during pregnancy increase their unborn child's risk of asthma ten fold. As well, you naturally expose that child to the forty-something carcinogens that cigarettes contain.

Yes: Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk for a huge number of problems. Cigarettes contain a large number of toxins that effect both mom and the baby. I always advise that anyone who has ever smoked go through a detoxification program to try to minimize the effects of these toxins, preferably before becoming pregnant.

Yes: While the smoke itself does not enter the fetal lungs and does not do direct lung damage, there is evidence to support that the chemical irritants in the cigarettes can affect the developing immune system. This begins the cascade that can cause the child to later develop asthma.