[The effect of tobacco and alcohol on pregnancy course and child development].

Smoking during pregnancy may cause small-for-date babies, severeness and frequency depending on the number of cigarettes per day. Regular and heavy smoking appearently increases perinatal mortality. A similar correlation and additionally an increased rate of newborns with major abnormalities was observed when the father regularly smoked 10 and more cigarettes per day, even then when the mother was a non-smoker. The mechanism involved is unclear. Based upon present information one may favour the view that smoking of the father impairs spermiogenesis rather than "passive" smoking of the mother. Regular intake of liquor by the mother is well correlated with a shortened duration of pregnancy--that means an increased rate of abortion and prematurity. The consequences and responsibilities in the frame of family planning and prenatal care are discussed. The results referred to were attained mainly by a prospective study "Course of pregnancy and child development" supported by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft).