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The warning ‘Smoking while pregnancy is dangerous’ has been talked since long, but a new study reveals how the unborn baby react differently of a smoking mother.

A study published in Acta Paediatric showed that fetuses of smoking mother touch their face and mouth more than fetuses of normal mother.

Dr. Nadja Reissland of Durham University in the United Kingdom deeply examined the hand and mouth movement of the fetuses in both smoking and nonsmoking mothers.

She found that fetuses of smoking one had a 58 percent increase of mouth movement and a 69 percent touched their face or head compared to nonsmoker mothers.

"Fetal facial movement patterns differ significantly between fetuses of mothers who smoked compared to those of mothers who didn’t smoke," Reissland said, adding that a bigger study was needed to prove the findings.  

The extra movement indicated the effect of nicotine on fetuses.

"These results point to the fact that nicotine exposure per se has an effect on fetal development over and above the effects of stress and depression."

"The brain...matures indicates certain movements for the fetus that the fetus can make, it’s a proxy for brain development," said Reissland. "As they grow older, they integrate the movement [and] they make fewer but more complex movements."

Reissland said she hopes to continue the study to investigate whether fetuses showed any new sign of health effects or development delays when exposed nicotine in the womb.

Smoking during pregnancy has been connected to a number of complications like low birth weight, miscarriage or premature birth.