Acute effect of maternal smoking on the human fetal blood flow

Summary. The immediate effect of maternal smoking of one cigarette on blood flow in the descending thoracic aorta and umbilical vein was studied in 19 fetuses at between 29 and 39 weeks gestation. Blood flow was measured with a combined real‐time ultrasound and Doppler ultrasound technique immediately before smoking and immediately after cessation of smoke inhalation. The measured flow changes immediately after maternal smoking were insignificant and suggest that the haemodynamic and chemical effects of smoking in the mother do not produce immediate alterations in the blood flow in the fetal thoracic aorta or in the umbilical vein.