Smoking during pregnancy will expose your baby to nicotine, carbon monoxide, and other harmful toxins that can stunt his growth — including brain growth. An expecting mom with a pack-a-day habit will reduce her baby's birth weight by about half a pound, on average. (Remember, "average" means that some babies are far more affected than others.) This is significant because low birth weight is one of the main factors linked to newborn illness, disability, and death.
Cigarette smoking is also associated with increased risk for many pregnancy complications. These include premature labor, ectopic pregnancy (in which the fertilized egg implants outside the womb), miscarriage, placenta previa, placental abruption, vaginal bleeding, and premature delivery.
The long-term consequences of smoking during pregnancy can linger far after childbirth. Recent studies suggest that babies born to mothers who smoked are more likely to have learning problems, short attention spans, and hyperactivity disorders. They're more vulnerable to breathing problems such as asthma. Smoking during pregnancy can also put your baby at risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
What about Second hand smoke?
Cigarette smoking is also associated with increased risk for many pregnancy complications. These include premature labor, ectopic pregnancy (in which the fertilized egg implants outside the womb), miscarriage, placenta previa, placental abruption, vaginal bleeding, and premature delivery.
The long-term consequences of smoking during pregnancy can linger far after childbirth. Recent studies suggest that babies born to mothers who smoked are more likely to have learning problems, short attention spans, and hyperactivity disorders. They're more vulnerable to breathing problems such as asthma. Smoking during pregnancy can also put your baby at risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
What about Second hand smoke?
Second hand smoke during pregnancy is risky. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke raises a non-smoker's risk of developing lung cancer by at least 15%. The American Heart Association says non-smokers exposed to second hand smoke have a 30% increased risk of dying from heart disease and are at increased risk of asthmatic attacks and emphysema.
We have firm evidence that the use of tobacco products by adults (environmental tobacco smoke) increases childhood mortality and morbidity; otitis media, tympanostomy, tonsillectomy, asthma, coughs, lower respiratory tract illness, hospitalisations, and deaths. The studies linking second hand smoke to pregnancy problems show mixed results.
A study, released at a 1996 meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, says the compounds associated with second hand smoke can cause genetic damage and may be a prelude to childhood leukemia and other cancers. The study suggests that cancer-causing chemicals in cigarette smoke pass from mother to unborn baby, whether the mother smokes or not.
Pregnant women exposed to the secondhand smoke of co-workers or family members pass some of the blood-borne chemicals to their unborn babies, though babies of smokers have much higher levels of the chemicals. Researchers at the University of Louisville studied 410 pregnant women, measuring levels of three tobacco carcinogens in the mothers and their newborns-- benzo(a)pyrene, which causes lung and skin cancer; 4-aminobiphenyl, which causes bladder cancer; and acrylonitrile, which causes liver cancer.
All three substances attach themselves to hemoglobin, the oxygen carrying protein in red blood cells. The carcinogens continue to circulate through the babies' blood for the life of the red cells, about four months.
The study found that levels of the three chemicals were four to five times higher in the passive smokers' babies than in the non-smokers' infants and they were 10 to 20 times higher in the cigarette smokers' babies.
Here is a great link to help you quit smoking during pregnancy:http://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-quitting-smoking
