New research from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute suggests that women exposed to secondhand smoke early in life are more likely to have problems getting pregnant and have more miscarriages than those who were not exposed, Reuters reported Dec. 4.

Researchers led by Luke Peppone of the University of Rochester interviewed cancer patients regarding their past pregnancies, pregnancy attempts, miscarriages, and history of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

Almost half (40 percent) of women studied reported "prenatal pregnancy difficulty", according to the researchers, with 11 percent of women saying they had difficulty getting pregnant and more than 30 percent losing one or more babies.

But women who had parents who smoked and recalled breathing in smoke as children or young adults were 26 percent more likely to have difficulties getting pregnant, and women with any secondhand smoke exposure were 39 percent more likely to have had a miscarriage.

Cigarette-smoke toxins may have permanently damaged the women's bodies, the researchers said, possibly affecting the cervix and hormonal activity involved in pregnancy.

The study's findings were published online Nov. 27, 2008 in the journal Tobacco Control.