Nicotine patches fail pregnant women
12th March 2014
By Amanda Davey
Pregnant smokers are unlikely to gain any benefit from nicotine patches with research showing they won’t help expectant mothers quit and may instead increase the likelihood of hypertension.

While nicotine patches are not free from risk, they have generally been considered safer than smoking in pregnancy, but their efficacy and safety is now under question after a French study found they are essentially useless while significantly increasing diastolic blood pressure.