Baby Care

If you’re a smoker, you’ve probably been planning for some time to quit. You know you need to stop, you’ve just been waiting for the right time–and for the willpower to stop.  Now that you’re pregnant, this not only is a great time to stop–it is a critical time.  Not only will you find more energy to get you through the pregnancy, but you will also greatly diminish the risks of health problems for yourself and for your unborn child.  True, stopping will be difficult. Some people say it’s the hardest thing they’ve ever done.  And for the pregnant woman, who has enough stress already, it might be even more of a challenge. However, you’ll be glad to know that there are some tips that will make this easier for you, and there are numerous resources that will assist you as well.

When you smoke, poisons from tobacco smoke pass through your lungs and into your blood stream. They are carried around your body and interfere with the way it works. Every puff you take on a cigarette increases the carbon monoxide in your bloodstream which takes the place of oxygen in your blood. The nicotine in the smoke immediately increases your heart rate and blood pressure. It causes your blood vessels to narrow, reducing blood flow. The combination of these causes great stress to your body, especially your heart.

If you smoke when you are pregnant the combination of carbon monoxide and nicotine in cigarettes makes it harder for your baby to get the oxygen and nourishment it needs.
Your baby smokes the same cigarette you do.  As you inhale the poisons that tobacco contains (such as carbon monoxide and nicotine) these same poisons infiltrate into your placenta.  This then sends those poisons, along with the oxygen and nutrients that the placenta is supposed to send, directly to the baby.

Pregnancy smoking is sometimes a cause of pre-term labor, low-birth weight, and even death of the baby.  Here’s a sobering number for you: Studies show that somewhere between 20 to 30% of low-weight babies got that way because of the mother’s smoking. What’s more, about 10% of all early infant deaths is attributed to smoking by the mother.

Smoking during pregnancy by a mother is a major cause of sudden infant death syndrome. It also has the following effects:

• Increases the risk of miscarriage
• Increases the risk of complications during the birth
• Increases the likelihood of having a low-weight baby who is more vulnerable to infection and other health problems
• Increases the chances of the baby dying at or shortly after birth.