Is it Safe to Smoke during Pregnancy?
When you first become pregnant, you will probably be overwhelmed by all of the dos and don'ts that are suddenly facing you. Some restrictions, like those against all exercise, or against any conceivable type of food that could make you ill, aren't necessarily reasonable. There are a few restrictions however, that you should take very seriously. Smoking during pregnancy is one of the most harmful things you can do to your unborn child. Women who smoke when pregnant are at a far greater risk of stillbirth, miscarriage, low birth weight and premature birth than anyone else.
Smoking during pregnancy means that you are taking in over 4,000 chemicals that are all being passed into your unborn child's bloodstream. While none of these chemicals are good for you or your baby, two of them are particularly harmful: nicotine and carbon monoxide. These two chemicals work together to cut off oxygen supply to the fetus, resulting in complications like stillbirth, premature delivery and low birth weight.
Even though you may only smoke a few cigarettes a day, any amount of these toxic chemicals in your system creates cause for concern. Your body is most sensitive to the first doses of nicotine in the day, so just one or two cigarettes has an outsize impact on your body, constricting blood vessels almost instantly.
If you smoke when pregnant, a pack a day habit is enough to reduce your baby's birth weight by half a pound. Two packs a day will reduce it by a pound or more. Babies with a low birth weight often aren't completely developed. Their lungs are especially vulnerable, and may undersize babies spend their first days on a respirator. In addition, the children of mothers who smoke during pregnancy are far more likely to develop asthma, or die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
In addition, a child's brain function can be affected. The children of mothers who smoke when pregnant are far more likely to have learning disorders, behavioral problems and low IQ's.
Knowing all of these things, you will probably want to make sure that you do not smoke during pregnancy. Ideally, you will quit before you first conceive, but if your pregnancy is unplanned, you can still do a lot to protect your baby by quitting as soon as possible. Recent studies show that mothers who quit smoking in the first trimester increase their odds of delivering a healthy baby to nearly as high as non-smokers. Quitting in the second trimester is helpful as well, although not quite as much. Even as late as 30 weeks into your pregnancy, your baby can still gain weight quickly after you quit smoking.
If you smoke when pregnant, the disadvantages and dangers are pretty obvious. Quitting is not easy however, so be sure to talk to your doctor as soon as you know you are pregnant, so you can get all of the help and support you need to quit as quickly as possible. It's never easy, but with the right support and motivation, you can do it!
