Facts about the Consequences of Smoking while Pregnant
Certain people believe that smoking is a personal preference, but smoking while pregnant is an act that knowing involves endangering the health of a developing person. A fetus can be irreversibly damaged by the detrimental effects of tobacco.
About cigarette smoke
Perhaps if smokers could see cutaway versions of their body while they smoked, they would realize how the smoke invades the systems that are vital to human survival. Cigarette smoke is made up of over 4,000 different noxious chemicals including cyanide; the ingredient used in gas chambers and insecticides utilized in fumigation. It also contains lead; a substance which was proven to be especially toxic for children years ago when common house paint contained lead. Children who ate lead laden paint chips experienced a myriad of dangerous symptoms as the lead interfered with their nervous systems. Nicotine and carbon monoxide are likely the most dangerous ingredients in the smoke of cigarettes; known to be responsible for practically every pregnancy complication that is related to smoking.
Cigarette smoke and the pregnant woman
Women who smoke are positioning themselves for a difficult pregnancy and birth. Smoking affects all body organs, including the reproductive organs. The functions of the fallopian tubes and hormones are both detrimentally affected by the toxins; resulting in higher risks of miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies.
How cigarette smoke affects the fetus
Women who are pregnant and smoke are doing much more than inhaling these toxins into their lungs. Just as expectant mothers are eating for two, they are also breathing for two. Every drag of the cigarette draws particles of toxins into the lungs which have a significant effect on the blood vessels; narrowing them until passageways for vital blood flow is restricted to every part of the body, including the baby. The nutrient rich blood will also now contain miniscule particles of carbon dioxide, every one of which denies space to the blood and oxygen the developing baby requires. This starvation of valuable blood and oxygen actually stunts the baby’s growth, both in birth weight and development. Lack of development of the lungs begins a long ensuing issue with respiratory problems that will follow the child throughout its lifetime.
It has also been proven that smoking while pregnant has a dramatic effect on the developing baby’s brain. Learning disorders, low IQs and behavioral issues will plague the child throughout life; setting them up for frustration and failure in both school and later in the job force.
As disturbing as these scenarios are, there are even worse consequences for smoking cigarettes during the pregnancy. Miscarriages and stillbirths are much more common in women who smoke than in those who do not. Even after the baby is born, the toxins they absorbed by sharing their mother’s blood and oxygen make them more susceptible to succumbing to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) than babies born to non smoking mothers.
The effects of quitting smoking
Knowing that smoking during pregnancy could be handing a death sentence to your unborn baby should be enough to make the decision to stop. Even mothers who began their pregnancy smoking and quit during their pregnancy offer their babies a much higher chance of a healthy birth and developmental period. The woman’s body begins to recover immediately after quitting, and each day without a cigarette shows more and more improvement in blood flow and distribution of oxygen to the baby. After the baby is born, the benefits of not being exposed to dangerous secondhand smoke will keep the baby healthier through fewer respiratory conditions and ear infections.
Pregnancy is a wonderful and exciting experience; each day bringing a new stage of development in your new baby. Smoking while pregnant endangers the very life of the tiny fetus that is wholly dependent on the habits of the mother.