Summary: A matched controlled study of cord blood erythrocyte parameters has been carried out on infants of smoking and non‐smoking mothers. A highly significant (P < .001) increase in mean corpuscular volume in the infants of smoking mothers was observed which did not appear to be related to the number of cigarettes used. There was no significant change in the red cell count, but haemoglobin concentration and mean corpuscular haemoglobin showed a similar increase. Growth retardation has been observed in the infants of smoking mothers and a possible mechanism for this is postulated.
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Harrison et al. (1977) studied this question.
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