Effects of Smoking on Your Unborn Baby
By Rochelle Caviness
You've heard it before, and now you'll hear it again, "If you are pregnant – DON'T SMOKE!"
There is uncontroversial evidence that smoking during pregnancy can damage or kill your unborn child.
If you are not yet pregnant, but want to become so, stop smoking. Smoking will impede your ability to conceive, but it can also impact your non-smoking partner's fertility.
If you need help kicking the habit, contact your local American Lung Association by calling 1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872). They will be able to offer you assistance and advice to help you have a smoke free pregnancy.
The Effects:
Death
According to the American Lung Association, smoking during pregnancy is the cause of 10% of all infant deaths.
An infant exposed to smoke while a fetus has a higher chance of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), than does a 'smoke-free' baby.
Damage to the Lungs
Exposure to tobacco smoke, in utero (i.e., in the womb), can cause a fetus to suffer lung damage.
Babies born to mother's who smoked during pregnancy are more likely to be born with impaired lung function and may be at a higher risk of developing lung cancer and heart disease as adults.
If there is smoking in the home after the child is born, they are likely to develop asthma and to suffer from more respiratory infections than those children raised in a smoke free environment.
Behavioral Problems
Babies born of mothers that smoked during the pregnancy have a greater risk of developing behavioral problems, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Studies conducted in Denmark by Dr. Patricia A. Brennan indicate that smoking during your pregnancy can predispose your child to criminal behavior. The study also showed a correlation between the amount of cigarette smoke and the violence associated with the criminal behavior – the more cigarettes, the more violent the child was likely to be when they grew up!
The theory is that the criminal behavior is a direct result of the neurological and brain damage that the adult suffered while still a fetus, due to the maternal smoking.
Low Birth Weight
Women who smoke during pregnancy are at a greater risk of going into premature labor and of having a low weight baby.
Miscarriages
Women who smoke have a higher risk of having a miscarriage.
Long Term Effects
Children born of mother's who smoked during the pregnancy not only suffer from long term lung damage, but they also tend to be shorter and have difficulty learning. They also tend to be sickly their entire lives.
How does the smoke get 'to' the fetus?
On the surface, it can be hard to understand how smoking can affect a baby in utero. After all, they are not coming in direct contact with the smoke. However, what they do come into contact with can be even more harmful. When you smoke your body absorbs nicotine and carbon dioxide, and these substances are passed directly to the baby through the placenta. Unlike you, the baby cannot exhale the 'smoke' because it is delivered directly into their blood stream.
The presence of nicotine and carbon dioxide in their blood not only impedes their growth, but can also rob them of the oxygen they need to survive – causing them to die or be born with severe handicaps such as brain damage.
A study conducted at the University of Minnesota showed that babies born of women who smoke are often born with nicotine and related chemicals present in their urine.
Second Hand Smoke
If you are pregnant, just being around someone who smokes can cause problems for your baby. This is especially true if the smoker lives with you and you are around the smoke a great deal.
While you may not inhale as much nicotine and carbon dioxide as the person actually doing the smoking, you can still inhale enough to impair the development of the fetus.
You can quit smoking, but it is not going to be easy. Seek support from your friends and family and join a support group if necessary. The sooner you quit the healthier you and your baby will be.
