Smoking during pregnancy, what are the consequences for the fetus?

If your health is not enough of a reason to make you quit smoking, maybe when the life of your fetus is at stake you will immediately throw your cigarette pack away, right now. Smoking while pregnant affects the health of you and your baby before, during and after your baby is born. Nicotine, carbon monoxide, and many other toxins that you inhale from cigarettes are carried through the bloodstream directly to the baby in your womb.

"Smoking is probably the number one contributor to bad effects for the health of babies," said Robert Welch, an obstetrician and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan.

The more cigarettes you smoke each day, the more likely it is that your baby will develop more serious health problems. There is no "safe" dose of smoking while pregnant.

What might happen to the baby if the mother smokes during pregnancy

A stick of two cigarettes per day is safer than consuming a whole pack of cigarettes, but the effect is also eleven-twelve. Smokers' bodies are extremely sensitive to exposure to the first dose of nicotine of the day, and every day, that even one or two cigarettes will dramatically constrict blood vessels.

Lack of oxygen can have a devastating effect on your baby's growth and development. In general, smoking during pregnancy doubles the likelihood that a baby will be born too early or are malnourished and weigh less than 2.5 kilograms. Several studies have shown an association between smoking mothers and children developing cleft lip.

Not only that. Smoking while pregnant means you are putting your baby at risk for:

1. Congenital heart defects

Babies whose mothers smoked in the first trimester of pregnancy were more likely to have heart defects at birth.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the chances of these babies having some types of congenital heart defects are calculated to be 20-70 percent higher than babies whose mothers don't smoke. Heart defects include the type that blocks blood flow from the right side of the heart to the lungs and the openings between the upper chambers of the heart (atrial septal defect).

Poisons from cigarettes can also make a baby's heart beat faster than normal, aka tarkicardia. A heartbeat that is too fast when a person is resting can increase the risk of heart attack or sudden death. The risk of sudden infant death (SIDS) will continue to rise as the baby's birth weight decreases and the baby's gestational age decreases.

2. Congenital lung defects

Babies born to mothers who smoke during pregnancy tend to have stunted body sizes. This delay in growth leaves their lungs unprepared to work independently, at their optimal capacity. This means that these babies can spend the first week of life clinging to the breath apparatus. Even after they are able to breathe on their own (or are able to breathe on their own from the start), babies of mothers who smoke during pregnancy may continue to have respiratory problems later in life, as a result of their nicotine poisoning lungs.

Mothers who smoked at least half a pack of cigarettes a day during pregnancy were nearly three times more likely to have babies with airways blocked by mucus or sleep apnea. Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy were particularly prone to asthma, and had two or even three times the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

3. Brain damage

Smoking during pregnancy can have a lifelong effect on your baby's brain. Children of pregnant smokers are particularly likely to have learning disabilities, behavioral problems, and relatively low IQs.

The developing brain of the fetus is particularly vulnerable to low oxygen levels, and immaturity of the brain centers that regulate breathing can contribute to sudden infant death (SIDS). A recent study of infants of smoking mothers who died in the womb provides insight into how exposure to smoking can injure brain development. In addition to causing nerve damage by reducing the supply of oxygen to the developing brain, nicotine poisons areas of the brain directly involved with the heart's working system and respiratory function. In addition, babies whose mothers smoked during pregnancy were more likely to have trouble sleeping due to low oxygen supply to the brain.

4. Stillborn - or you who miscarried

Miscarriage, an unexpected event of pregnancy, usually occurs in the first three months of gestation. In rare cases, miscarriage can occur after the fetus is 20 weeks old. This is called stillbirth.

Smoking while pregnant increases the chances of premature miscarriage and stillbirth caused by a mixture of dozens of toxins and chemicals that enter your placenta choking the baby's oxygen and nutritional supplies. Other complications of smoking can cause ectopic pregnancy, placental problems (placental abruption or placenta previa), or delayed fetal development. These issues can also lead to miscarriage or stillbirth.

I didn't smoke when I was pregnant, but my husband is a smoker. Are there any dangers to my pregnancy?

Cigarette smoke, also called passive smoking, is a combination of smoke from a burning cigarette and the smoke exhaled by a smoker. The smoke that burns the tip of a cigarette or cigar actually contains more of the harmful substances (tar, carbon monoxide, nicotine, etc.) than the smoke inhaled by smokers.

If you are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant, you will have a greater chance of experiencing miscarriage, stillbirth, tubal pregnancy, low birth weight, and other complications of pregnancy. Infants and children who are exposed to secondhand smoke can also develop asthma, allergies, recurrent lung and ear infections, and are at higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

What can I do to avoid all of these risks?

Ideally, you should quit smoking before you become pregnant (smoking decreases your chance of becoming pregnant by about 40 percent). However, the CDC reports 10 percent of women still smoke during the last three months of pregnancy.

If you are a smoker, quit right away. The only way to avoid the pregnancy complications associated with smoking is to quit smoking - the sooner the better. A study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2009 found that pregnant women who quit smoking in the first trimester actually boosted their chances of having a healthy baby at a healthy weight to nearly the same as babies born to nonsmokers. Mothers who stopped in the second trimester also had an increased chance, but not by much.

The benefits of quitting smoking start within a few days of quitting. After you stop, you and your baby's heart rate will return to normal, and your baby will be less likely to develop breathing problems. You may have withdrawal symptoms because your body has gotten used to nicotine, the addictive substance in cigarettes. You may have cravings for cigarettes, get irritable, feel very hungry, cough frequently, have headaches, or have trouble concentrating. These withdrawal symptoms are temporary. They only feel difficult when you first quit, but will go away in 10-14 days. When withdrawal symptoms occur, control yourself. Think about your reasons for quitting smoking - your children.

If you do not smoke but are in an environment thick with cigarette smoke, demand that your husband and co-workers respect the life in your womb. If your job forces you to continue working in a smoke-free environment while pregnant, understand that this environment is a threat to your baby's safety and can serve as a compelling reason to demand transfer to a safer environment. By law, you have the right to work in a smoke-free environment.

x