What if the nurturer herself turns into a polluter? Smoking and / or drinking mothers poison the foetus. Alcohol consumers expose the foetus to alcohol syndrome, which engenders congenital malformations and low birth weight in newborns.

Smoking during pregnancy passes cancer-causing chemicals to their foetus' blood where these linger for months, scientists disclosed recently. Foetuses exposed to tobacco smoke tend to be smaller than normal, and are more likely to have breathing problems, sometimes even cause sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). About 14 per cent of all pre-term deliveries and 12.8 per cent of all newborn deaths have been owing to maternal smoking.

A recent research has linked cancer in later life to foetal exposure to smoke. Scientists presented evidence that three toxic chemicals