Smoking While Pregnant 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. Smoking places stress on the baby’s heart and affects the development of its lungs. Pregnant smokers have a greater risk of miscarriage, may have a difficult birth and risk having a low weight baby, which will be more vulnerable to infection and other health problems. The baby of a smoker is more likely to die at or shortly after birth. If you quit before becoming pregnant or in the first few months, your baby’s birthweight will be the same as if you had been a non-smoker. Also, you reduce the risk of premature birth and other pregnancy complications. What Happens To My Baby When I Smoke? The umbilical cord is your baby’s lifeline. Blood flow through this cord provides your baby with oxygen and the food it needs to grow. Every puff you take on a cigarette has an immediate effect on your baby. Carbon monoxide replaces some of the oxygen in your blood, reducing the amount of oxygen received by your baby through the umbilical cord. The nicotine in cigarettes increases your heart rate and your baby’s heart rate. It also causes your blood vessels to narrow, reducing the flow of blood through the umbilical cord. This makes it harder for your baby to get the oxygen and nourishment it needs. To prepare for breathing after birth, your unborn baby will be practising by exercising some of its chest muscles. Nicotine reduces these breathing movements. Cigarette smoke also contains many other harmful poisons, which pass through your lungs and into your bloodstream, which your baby shares. Smoking during pregnancy by a mother is a major cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS or ‘cot death’). 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.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:00:00 +0000
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