Smoke During Pregnancy? How it Affects Your Unborn Child When You Smoke When Pregnant.

Smoking During Pregnancy

It is estimated that between 25-30% of women smoke during pregnancy, although the number does drop to 14% who smoke when pregnant if the mother is a college graduate.

Here are some of the side effects from smoking when pregnant:

Your baby is more likely to die before birth (stillbirth)
Smoking during pregnancy can cause placenta previa (dangerous situation where the placenta covers the cervix)
It can cause a placental abruption (Where the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus denying all oxygen to your baby)
It increases your risk of a preterm birth
Decrease in fertility (male & female)
Increase in ectopic pregnancy
Increase in abrupted placenta
Increase in premature rupture of the membranes
Increase in infection of amniotic sac

If that isn't enough to want to make you stop smoking, read on:

Increase in low birth weight births -- When you smoke during pregnancy, you increase your chances of having a low birth weight child. Birth weight is an important factor in your baby’s health. The smaller the baby, the more at risk for many problems.
- In fact, low birth weight is one of the top reasons for babies to be ill and die in the first months of life. Low birth weight is a leading cause of infant deaths, resulting in more than 300,000 deaths annually among newborns in the United States.
Premature Labor -- If you smoke when pregnant, your body is more likely to try to end your pregnancy sooner by placing you in early labor in an effort to protect your baby from the harmful effects of smoking.
- The problem? Babies born even slightly prematurely have a greater risk of death and other complications. The sooner the baby is born, the more likely your baby is to die or have serious complications, including mental retardation and cerebral palsy.
Colic -- Recent studies show that if you smoke during pregnancy your baby is more likely to have colic, which is unstoppable screaming and crying for hours at a time every day.
Respiratory infections -- if you smoke when pregnant or if your baby is surrounded by second hand smoke, your baby will be more likely to be ill, have asthma or other respiratory problems.
Premature Rupture of Membranes (PROM) --Your water breaking too early is another risk of smoking during pregnancy. It can also lead to premature birth.
Miscarriage --If you smoke when pregnant, you could have trouble staying pregnant. It can also decrease your fertility.

When you smoke during pregnancy, there is an increase in the fetal heart rate that lasts for 15 minutes after each time you have a cigarette. We know that the woman who smokes when pregnant has a baby who gets less food and oxygen than her non-smoking pregnant counterpart.

When you smoke during pregnancy it causes constrictions in the blood vessels of the umbilical cord and uterus, thereby decreasing the amount of oxygen available to the fetus. Nicotine also reduces the amount of blood in the baby's cardiovascular system.

Because of this deprivation, the baby will tend to be smaller (low birth weight), which is associated with many problems-- including poor lung function. This can also lead to preterm labor or premature rupture of the membranes, because the body feels that the baby can no longer be fed properly.

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Side Effects in Newborns

In the newborn of a mother who smokes when pregnant, there are complications such as an increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), allergies, childhood cancers, respiratory illness, increased incidence of learning disabilities and ear infections.

The severity of the side effects are enormous, and it is never too late to reap the benefits of quitting or reducing the amount of cigarettes that you smoke during pregnancy.

What about Smoking and Breastfeeding?

Breastfeeding is so wonderful for your baby that it is generally recommended to continue breastfeeding even if you smoke. Although there are still risks to you and the baby from smoking. Quitting can be a wonderful gift for your baby. The patch is also approved for use during breastfeeding, so talk to your doctor or healthcare provider for more information.

How Can I Quit?

If you want help on quitting smoking when pregnant, contact:

777 Third Ave.
New York, NY 10017
1-800-ACS-2345

American Lung Association
1-800-LUNG-USA (1-800-586-4872)
Smoking and Pregnancy (Order #0176C)
Freedom From Smoking (R) For You and Your Baby (Order #0738)

http://quitsmoking.about.com/library/blsmokeout.htm Great American Smokeout from About Guides
March of Dimes: http://www.noah-health.org/english/pregnancy/march_of_dimes/substance/nosmoke.html Quit Smoking Guide
http://www.aap.org American Academy of Pediatrics

Sources:

_{U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General.}

_{U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004.

Ventura SJ, Mosher WD, Curtin SC, Abma JC, Henshaw S. Trends in pregnancies and pregnancy rates by outcome: Estimates for the United States, 1976-96. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital and Health Statistics 2000;21(56).}

_{pregnancy.about.com}

_{Weiss, Robin E, LCCE}