Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy – How Does It Affect Your Baby?
Cigarette smoking during pregnancy has long been known to be a major risk to the healthy development of the unborn baby. The harmful chemicals in cigarettes affect the growing baby in many ways.
When a pregnant woman inhales the smoke from a cigarette, the oxygen in the blood system is replaced with carbon monoxide. Without adequate amounts of oxygen, the baby’s growth becomes stunted and development is affected. Depending on the amount the mother smokes; there could be significant negative impact to the baby’s development. This is why babies born to mothers who smoke are at a risk for low birth weight. Additionally, the chemicals in cigarettes are passed to the growing baby via the placenta.
Further evidence shows that babies born to smoking mothers have an increased risk of being born with birth defects or other physical abnormalities. This is not evident until the baby is born and often the scope of the problem is not identified until the baby begins to grow and doesn’t thrive or fails to meet development milestones. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is another devastating result of smoking during pregnancy. Because cigarette smoking during pregnancy is known to cause respiratory problems after birth, many babies will simply stop breathing which can lead to sudden death if not caught. In addition to sudden death, many babies born to smoking moms are at a much greater risk of asthma and bronchitis as well as an increased likelihood of colds and other respiratory problems.
Smoking while pregnant can pose a risk to simply being able to carry the baby to term. Expectant moms who smoke are at a greater risk for miscarriages, stillborn babies and preterm labor. The risk of placenta previa, or the placenta separating from the uterine wall, is greatly increased because of smoking. This condition puts both the mom and unborn baby at risk.
Once born, if a mother continues to smoke while nursing, she is passing the nicotine to her infant by way of breast milk. In addition to the environmental second hand smoke the baby is getting an extra dose of nicotine through his or her mother’s breast milk.
There are many reasons to quit smoking during pregnancy. Any one of the conditions mentioned above should be enough motivation for pregnant moms to quit. Quitting smoking as soon as possible is the only way to insure the health and well being of the unborn baby. Visit our home page to learn how you can safely and easily quit smoking during pregnancy.
When a pregnant woman inhales the smoke from a cigarette, the oxygen in the blood system is replaced with carbon monoxide. Without adequate amounts of oxygen, the baby’s growth becomes stunted and development is affected. Depending on the amount the mother smokes; there could be significant negative impact to the baby’s development. This is why babies born to mothers who smoke are at a risk for low birth weight. Additionally, the chemicals in cigarettes are passed to the growing baby via the placenta.
Further evidence shows that babies born to smoking mothers have an increased risk of being born with birth defects or other physical abnormalities. This is not evident until the baby is born and often the scope of the problem is not identified until the baby begins to grow and doesn’t thrive or fails to meet development milestones. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is another devastating result of smoking during pregnancy. Because cigarette smoking during pregnancy is known to cause respiratory problems after birth, many babies will simply stop breathing which can lead to sudden death if not caught. In addition to sudden death, many babies born to smoking moms are at a much greater risk of asthma and bronchitis as well as an increased likelihood of colds and other respiratory problems.
Smoking while pregnant can pose a risk to simply being able to carry the baby to term. Expectant moms who smoke are at a greater risk for miscarriages, stillborn babies and preterm labor. The risk of placenta previa, or the placenta separating from the uterine wall, is greatly increased because of smoking. This condition puts both the mom and unborn baby at risk.
Once born, if a mother continues to smoke while nursing, she is passing the nicotine to her infant by way of breast milk. In addition to the environmental second hand smoke the baby is getting an extra dose of nicotine through his or her mother’s breast milk.
There are many reasons to quit smoking during pregnancy. Any one of the conditions mentioned above should be enough motivation for pregnant moms to quit. Quitting smoking as soon as possible is the only way to insure the health and well being of the unborn baby. Visit our home page to learn how you can safely and easily quit smoking during pregnancy.
