The effects of smoking during pregnancy begin as early as conception. If you are smoking while pregnant, neither the mother or baby will get enough oxygen. Nicotine and carbon monoxide from cigarette smoking keep the baby from getting enough nourishment. Your baby's heart rate can also increase dangerously.
When the mother smokes, so does the baby. Poisons such as nicotine get into the placenta, which connects the mother to the unborn baby. The placenta then becomes thinner, trying to spread to other areas of the uterus which may have more oxygen and nutrients. The thinning of the placenta can cause pre-term labor or placenta previa, a condition where the placenta covers the cervix.
Putting Your Baby at Risk
Smoking during pregnancy causes a variety of both birth defects and illnesses in children. There is also a risk of miscarriage and premature birth. The infant could be born at an alarmingly low birth weight or with lungs that are not fully developed. When a mother keeps smoking after the birth of the baby, the baby is more prone to get colic, more colds, coughs and middle-ear infections. These babies are also more likely to get bronchitis or pneumonia, due to lungs that are not functioning properly.
Lifelong Health Problems
Children who are born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy have an increased risk of lung problems later in life. They are also found to have more colds and common illnesses while they grow up. They often have impaired lung growth, chronic coughing and wheezing. Studies show that these children will often be shorter and smaller than other children. Some may develop learning impairments that slow their ability to learn in school and later as adults. Children of mothers who smoke are also more likely to become smokers later in life.
According to the American Lung Association, "A recent study reports that a child's risk of being diagnosed with asthma by the age of seven increased 23% if its mother smoked even less than 10 cigarettes a day during their pregnancy. The chance of developing asthma increased to 35% if the mother smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant."
Children who are born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy have an increased risk of lung problems later in life. They are also found to have more colds and common illnesses while they grow up. They often have impaired lung growth, chronic coughing and wheezing. Studies show that these children will often be shorter and smaller than other children. Some may develop learning impairments that slow their ability to learn in school and later as adults. Children of mothers who smoke are also more likely to become smokers later in life.
