Smoking While Pregnant

If you are a smoker and are thinking about getting pregnant, the first step you need to take is to quit smoking. If you are like most smokers, you may have thought about or tried quitting before. However, if you are pregnant or trying to conceive, you now need to not only think about your health, but the health of your baby. Smoking will affect your child’s development and future growth.

Roughly 13% of women in the United States smoke during their pregnancy. This is an outrageous number, when you consider than there would be an estimated 10% reduction in infant deaths if these women quit.

Cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemicals – approximately 2,500 chemicals are being entered into your child’s bloodstream with every puff on a cigarette. Nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide are the most dangerous and most toxic to the fetus, impacting them during the most crucial development stages while inside the womb.

Even if you do not smoke, your child can be impacted by a mother who is frequently exposed to cigarette smoke. The second-hand smoke can be just as harmful to both the mother and the child. A woman who smokes or is exposed to frequent second-hand smoke is more likely to have a baby born with low birth weight and stunted growth. The sooner the woman quits or stays away from the second-hand smoke, the better the chances of good health for her and her child.

Smoking has been associated with a higher risk of an ectopic pregnancy, which is when the embryo has been implanted in the fallopian tube instead of the uterus. When this happens, medication has to be taken to remove the embryo, or in the worst case, the tube must be surgically removed. Smoking will also increase the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage and vaginal bleeding that is severe enough to harm the baby.

Smoking while pregnant can make the child develop slower, increasing the risk for low birth weight and the risk for a preterm delivery (the child is delivered before 37 weeks of gestation) by 30%. You may also see an abnormalitiy such as cleft lip, cleft palate or other birth defects. Babies born of smoking mothers are more likely to die from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and can have higher chances of asthma, behavioral problems and learning disabilities from the slower developmental growth.

It’s clear that smoking while pregnant – or being near second-hand smoke as a pregnant woman – can affect you and your baby throughout the pregnancy and early years of his or her life. If you need help to quit smoking, click here to discover a highly recommended program that can help you.



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