Babies born to smokers are at greater risk of breathing problems that could be associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a small study indicates.

MedWire News reported June 24 that University of Calgary researchers found that a comparison of infants born to smokers and nonsmokers found that the former experienced problems with spontaneous recovery of breathing pauses and oxygen saturation levels.

"We have shown that as compared with infants of nonsmoking mothers, spontaneous recovery of breathing pauses and oxygen saturation values are adversely affected in cigarette-smoke-exposed infants during the hypoxemic and post-hypoxemic periods, respectively," according to study author Shabih Hasan and colleagues. "These observations could help explain why these infants are at a particularly high risk for SIDS."

The study was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.